Planet of Blood
by warinbabylon
Summary: Returning from delivering the Gravis to Frontios, the Doctor and Tegan find themselves waylaid by an old ally. The trip will prove to be a test of both their wills and souls and their companionship.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: It all belongs to the BBC…I don't own them. I make no money from them.  
  
Author's note: I started this one night after seeing a rerun of Interview with a Vampire and reading Goth Opera. I will finish it eventually, but not until I finish the others on which I am working. This takes place during Frontios…when the Doctor and Tegan deliver the Gravis to another planet. Turlough is not with them. And, yes, it is a Fifth Doctor story.  
  
**  
  
Planet of Blood  
  
**  
  
There is a rule book to the universe, the Doctor thought as he watched the instrumentation on the console move of its own accord. There is a rule book to the universe and it read simply: Anything that can go wrong, will.  
  
He groaned and shook his head helplessly. All he had wanted to do was give Tegan one trip before they went back to pick up Turlough on Frontios. A quiet day at the Eye of Orion, or maybe a misty spring afternoon at Bath, he had thought. He had even toyed with the idea of a side trip to Trion 4 for the singing of the night crystals. He had gotten no further than fiddling with the coordinate controls when the TARDIS rotor had sped up, indicating fast travel. The coordinates dials spun, the temporal stabilizers whirled, twisting…he could even hear the transdimensional trackers moving under the console. Wherever the TARDIS was heading, it was causing the old girl severe distress.  
  
A low resolute gong sound filled the console room and its simple presence sent him bending over the console in hopeless defeat. "That's all we need," he muttered.  
  
The interior door flew open and his young friend, Tegan Jovanka, stumbled into the console room, buttoning up her shirt. "Hell's teeth, Doc…"  
  
"Before you ask, I don't know…" he answered back, raising his head tiredly.  
  
"That's the cloister bell," she pointed out needlessly. She looped into the center console and leaned into it, staring at her friend.  
  
"I know."  
  
"Well…"  
  
"It's gonging."  
  
Tegan screwed up her mouth in an almost comical frown. "And which branch of science did you use to figure that out. Why is it gonging?"  
  
"We're moving," the Doctor explained, jumping into action, running around the console. His cream colored coat tails flapped behind him. "And I don't know why or how…I haven't set the coordinates yet. Wherever we are heading, the TARDIS was not designed to handle the strain."  
  
"But you said the TARDIS could go to any planet and any time in that planet's existence," she groused. "If we are heading somewhere where the TARDIS was not designed to handle then that means…"  
  
"That we are heading somewhere…out of the usual run of things." He ran back around the console and glanced at the coordinates as they finally stabilized. "No…good…not negative coordinates…we haven't gone through a CVE." He frowned. "Tegan…grab the galactic atlas. Now. Run!"  
  
She turned on her heel and sprinted through the internal door and out into the corridor. Her stocking feet didn't have traction and she slid into the wall before turning down the hall toward the 'study'. She had opted to dress casual, but her chinos felt tight and restrictive as she plowed into the next door. The old book, weighing in her estimation about twenty pounds, sat on its pedestal. She grabbed it, hauling it back toward the console room. When the Doctor told her to run, he meant it. Tegan ran at full tilt until she pulled back on the console room door.  
  
The brilliant light inside made her drop the atlas and cover her eyes. It stopped her dead.  
  
When she was able to see again, when the static white that her world had become lessened, she saw the Doctor facing a small, compact man with a dove on his head. Tegan knew the being immediately. "The White Guardian," she whispered.  
  
"Where have you taken us?" she heard the Doctor say. With hands in front of her, she approached her friend until she felt his back against her palms. She gathered the conversation had been going on some time.  
  
"To where you are needed, Doctor."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"There is a mission that only you can complete for me, Doctor. Time is of the essence."  
  
"Galactic 009 North 009 West 009…temporal 000, transdimension 0000." he muttered. Tegan tightened her hand into his coat to get his attention. She had not known that the White Guardian would be that brilliant in all his full power. The Doctor patted the air to the side to tell her to remain as she was. "Why here? This planet has not been visited by a Gallifreyan in over 100 millennia."  
  
"They have evolved, Doctor…and they must not be allowed to complete the evolutionary path they have started on…technologically…this needs to be a dead end. If they are not stopped, the very rendering of time, space and your Time Lord Matrix is at peril."  
  
The Doctor nodded. "How do I mask myself?"  
  
"To infiltrate them, to survive, Doctor, you will need to become one of them. You and your companion." Tegan ducked behind the Doctor's broad form as the White Guardian looked to her.  
  
The Doctor turned, startled, gazing at his friend with concern. His blue eyes were wide. Tegan frowned. "No."  
  
"She must, Doctor. You will need help. She is reliable and loyal. That is why I took you from your time stream when I did. Turlough would not have been suited for this."  
  
"He isn't suited for much," Tegan muttered under her breath.  
  
"She can't," the Doctor answered, swinging around. "I will go alone. My genetics can handle…"  
  
"She will go with you, Doctor…your TARDIS cannot remain here. It will be returned to you at the end of the mission. She cannot remain in it. The fourth law of Rassilon will protect you both'; even I cannot counteract that law."  
  
Tegan pulled at the Doctor's coat. "What is going on?"  
  
"Hush, Tegan."  
  
"But if he is going to take the TARDIS…"  
  
The Doctor turned and glanced down at her. He held her eyes for a few moments, before he turned to the Guardian again. "How long until it is irreversible?"  
  
"One standard month Gallifreyan," came the simple terse answer. "Time is of the essence, Doctor. You must leave now."  
  
"We're in hover mode," Tegan said, peeking around the Doctor's back. "We can't leave."  
  
The Doctor sighed and reached behind him to grab Tegan's hand. As he squeezed it, he turned to her. "Tegan. Hold on. Do not let go. I know you don't listen to a word I say ever, but…"  
  
As the walls of the TARDIS suddenly disappeared, Tegan yiped and clutched at his hand with both of hers. "Don't worry…I'll hold on…" she yelled. She couldn't see him any longer, there was nothing but black, but his presence still held and squeezed her hand.  
  
"Thank Rassilon for small favors," came his voice back to her. 


	2. We're not in Kansas anymore

The world was a very cold place, Tegan surmised as she suddenly saw light and landscape around her again. Not that it was very bright; it was night. But not a very dark one, there was the light of two moons overhead. Around them were high cliffs of a dark stone and they seemed to reach to eternity. There was no plant life that she could see...it was bleak and yet strangely beautiful.  
  
She didn't have time to contemplate it; the Doctor pulled on her hand as he ran across the narrow canyon.  
  
Tegan dragged her feet, realizing quite quickly that she was still in stocking feet.  
  
"Doctor..."  
  
"Quiet," he hissed over his shoulder, as he flew into a small crevice, dragging her with him. As he came to a rest, pressed against the rock wall, he turned andglanced around them. "They can hear better than most other creatures in the cosmos and can smell flesh and blood at more than a standard parscet."  
  
"Who?" she pressed. "Doctor....what are we doing here? Where is here? "  
  
He bent down and held a finger on his free hand up to his lips. "Shhh..." he whispered. Tegan stared at him in the moonlight. She could see his incisors; they were long.  
  
"Doctor..." she breathed.  
  
He shook his head. "Don't...not yet, Tegan." He glanced around again and turned towards a small natural path up the side of a cliff. She was pulled rapidly until they crested and she was faced with a forty foot drop. Another crevice presented itself and she was thrust into it and he backed in behind her.  
  
She pressed against his back. "What _is_ going on?"  
  
He stared out, sweeping his gaze from one side to another. "We have to get to a place where we can man all the wickets, Tegan."  
  
"Playing cricket again?"  
  
"Cricket and life are very much the same," he answered. "I think we are safe for now." He turned and pointed towards the back of the small crevice. It tipped downward; it appeared to have a pocket below the surface.  
  
The Doctor sighed and looked toward the ceiling. "I can see your curiosity is alive and well." He turned and gestured for her to sit. He began to pat hispockets searching for his pen torch. When it illuminated, he put it in her hand. "Check my mouth, Tegan, and tell me what you see."  
  
She shone the light at his face as he opened his mouth. Her face contorted and she reached out to touch the sharp, long incisor teeth. He flinched as she touched them, as if they were full of nerve endings. Before she could answer him, he nodded, knowingly. "They have changed; I can feel it."  
  
"They're long and pointy...like fangs," she shuddered.  
  
"Brave heart, Tegan," he offered. He held out his hands and looked at his fingernails. "Glassy...transparent, as I suppose my skin will be in a few hours." He sighed. "I need you to confirm something else for me, if you would." He held out his arms, hands cupped in fists. "Take my pulses."  
  
"What IS going on?" she pressed as she reached out to take his pulse. After a moment, she gasped and readjusted her fingers on his wrist, then on his otherwrist, finally, she reached, not gently, to push his sweater up and feel his chest on either side of his solar plexus. "No...there's no pulse...no beat...Doctor..." she cried. "On either of them."  
  
Tegan shuddered and nearly wept. "Are you going to regenerate?" she whispered. "Are you dying?"  
  
The Doctor pressed on her shoulders gently, easing her to a boulder behind them. As her legs bent and she collapsed against the rock, he slid to the ground in front of her, crosslegged. His blond hair reflected what little light there was in the cave. "No Tegan. Not here. Not on Alpha Omega. I will never regenerate here."  
  
"But...you are dying...your hearts..." she began to rise, but her pressed against her until she sat again.  
  
"Have stopped and will remain that way as long as we are here. You see, Tegan...I can't regenerate because I cannot be alive. I'm already dead."

* * *

The Doctor walked to the edge of the cliff and glanced around. The night was still, like a stagnant pool of water, he thought. Behind him, Tegan's breathing was still heightened; it betrayed her shock. He could hear her heart beating. He could smell her blood, hot in her veins. If he closed his eyes, he could probably hear the electronic shocks of her neurons.  
  
"Dead?" Tegan said, disbelieving. "But you are walking around..."  
  
"Undead, Tegan. I exist."  
  
"Undead...as in...zombies and vampires and..." she stopped, hearing herself. With a violent shake of her head, she denied the possibility. "It can't...it's..." With a groan, she stopped and frowned at him. He could see the gentle wrinkling in her brow. "I take that back...where you are concerned, nothing is impossible."  
  
"Thank you," he muttered.  
  
"A vampire?"  
  
"First try, Tegan. You are improving in your deductions."  
  
"But...how...and why?"  
  
"How is a question I don't think I want answered. The long story takes place in my ancient history. Vampires and Time Lords go way back, I'm afraid. We share almost 98% of our genes in common. And the bloodiest, dirtiest part of our history concerns a war we had with them. Rassilon led the war, we won, they cursed us to eternal sterility, and they were banished...here...to Alpha Omega. It appears that the White Guardian just tweaked the 2 percent of my genetics that were not in common and made me a vampire." He scratched his neck. "I would prefer not to know how to do that."  
  
"Why?" Tegan croaked. "Why change you?"  
  
"If I were to remain a Time Lord, I would be hunted for food. They would not think twice about killing me."  
  
"But...will you always..."  
  
"No. Rassilon altered the cosmos and created a small pocket universe off of the grand cosmos. This planet exists in its own universe. Once I leave here, through the fourth law of Rassilon, I will revert back to myself. So long as I am not here longer than a standard month, that is."  
  
Tegan drew a deep breath. "And me? I mean won't they...the vampires...or whatever they are...hunt me? I love good food, Doctor, but only when I'm not it."  
  
"Ah yes..." he lowered his head. "That, I think, will be our first situation to take care of."

* * *

"Pyrthia!"  
  
The door to the room open, banging against the wall with almost indecent force. With a grunt, the woman lifted her head from where it had fallen forward. Her vision was blurred as a man, dressed in a light weight suit ran in.  
  
"Umbra?!"  
  
The woman shook her head.  
  
"By the light, Umbra; have you no mind for what you need?"  
  
Umbra continued to shake until the man returned to her side. She didn't need to reach out her hand; a small packet was attached to her arm and a straw was extended between her lips within seconds. When finished, the male shook his head and leaned back into the bank of electronics.  
  
"Lukan," she breathed in return, her mouth working at the straw. Quickly, a deep orange liquid flowed through the medium into her mouth.  
  
"You can't always miss your feedings," his voice was heavy, bordering on angry. "I won't always be here."  
  
"We won't always be here, Lukan," Umbra growled in return. As she played with the straw between her teeth, her pointed incisors became noticeable. "Our shift here will be over within the next day. And then we will be back with the families."  
  
She inhaled the liquid. "And real food."  
  
"It's just not the same...this..." Lukan picked up the packet and squeezed it to move the liquid around. "...packaged concoction..."  
  
"It has the needed protein..."  
  
Lukan frowned and put it down. "But as bad as it tastes, you can't miss your feedings, Umbra. Any weaker and you would have had to be carried out of here."  
  
Umbra shrugged. "I got busy."  
  
"Did you. That doesn't surprise me in the least."  
  
"Quiet," she hissed as she eased the straw from between her lips. With a sigh, she turned and waved her hand toward the large view window next to them. "I got sidetracked. Just look at that. I don't know about you. But that's probably the only thing on this planet that would make me miss dinner."  
  
Lukan moved to the window and glanced outward. The machine below glinted in the moonlight and took up an immense amount of space. After a moment, there was an incredibly bright short burst of light from within it. Lukan nodded, his eyes widening slightly. "That it does, Umbra."

* * *

"No."  
  
The Doctor had turned and glanced back at Tegan. She leaned into the stone wall and was shaking her head slowly. Her arms were wrapped tightly around her middle.  
  
"Tegan."  
  
"I don't...I won't...be a vampire...or whatever it is...you are now. And don't..." she bit out and then lowered her voice. "Don't do that, please..."  
  
He sighed and shook his head. Tegan could see him make a massive effort to change his voice. "I don't know..."  
  
She had shrugged. "And how long...until I'm dinner for you, do you think?" she asked pointedly. "When you do that with your voice, I can hardly make myself stay where I am."  
  
The Doctor nodded harshly. "I'm..." he cleared his throat. "I'm aware of that. Apparently I missed the snack tray when it was passed round. I do feel rather hungry."  
  
With a wince, she edged out to the ridge overlooking the open canyon below. "I can tell." The Doctor reached out and hesitantly laid his hand on her elbow. Tegan reacted by flinching.  
  
He sighed and shook his head. "Tegan, you must still trust me. You must."  
  
That conversation had been hours before in the relative safety of the small cave they had found. When he had felt stabilized, he had led her via the slim walkway down the side of the mountain and into the canyon below. He had listened for her steps behind him and heard them melding with her single strong heartbeat. Normally, he would be aware of her sounds, of the soft rhythm of her breathing.  
  
But now, he was well aware of her heat, the heat of her blood. And it was making him hungry, bone achingly, powerfully hungry.  
  
"How much further do you plan to go?"  
  
He slowed and glanced upward. His feet felt heavy as he continued to move. Among the several things vying for presence in his mind, not the least of which was the stellar placement of the planet and climatic conditions. It was a bimoon planet, but it did still have a sun. The diurnal pattern was short, like a night in the severe northern hemisphere of Tegan's planet, and the exact opposite of Gallifrey.  
  
"Well, Tegan..."  
  
She called tiredly from behind him. "Look...you might be the son of Satan now, but I do remember a few things about Vampires and I don't want you fried prematurely. Don't we have to find you cover before daybreak?"  
  
"Not all Vampires will be affected by light," he called back. He lifted an eyebrow as Tegan seemed to quicken her steps to draw even with him. "Yes, well...all vampires are affected to a certain extent by direct sunlight, but only the very young ones and the very old ones, I think, are affected by any sort of light."  
  
"And what are you?"  
  
"That," he replied with a sigh. "Is a very astute question to which I don't have an answer, Tegan. But better safe then sorry...we'll look for shelter." He glanced skyward again and shook his head. "I do wish I had paid better attention to Ancient Gallifreyan history while in class. It would make this whole situation much easier to handle...and direction easier to anticipate."  
  
Tegan shook her head. "And I should have checked the tire before I left for work that day...would have never ended up in the TARDIS." She ignored his slightly sour look. "No use in crying over spilled milk...and I still don't want you fried. Does it look like the sun is about to come up? And where are we going...?"  
  
"To a village or city," he muttered. "And yes, it does look like the sun is going to come up soon. Good heavens, Tegan...you have no shoes..."  
  
With a sour glance around, Tegan nodded to a crevice up on the side of the cliff and then glanced up. "Doc...it is getting light. Come on..."  
  
She began to scale the side of the cliff, following a small walkway and climbing when she had to. He followed her, his pale hands like white ghosts. They passed a portion where the top of the cliff was lower than the rest. He grabbed at her arm to stop her and nodded across the expanse. "Tegan...lights."  
  
The lights were barely there, like a mirage across a desert. He could see trees lining the way and mused that Tegan would probably think them skeletons. The sky was very dim, as though the star for this system was threatening to suddenly clip on at any moment. His eyes scanned the horizon and slowly made its way back to the settlement, if that indeed was what it was. The lights were dimmer than he expected, distance and air quality accounted for in the reckoning. However, he had detected a slight change in his senses: auditory, olfactory, and there had been changes to his visual cortex. What he was seeing was a dimly lit settlement, he was sure. But why they needed light in the first place...his infrared vision was outstanding. He assumed theirs was as well...after all, they were of the same species now. It was interesting.  
  
With squinted eyes, she peered into the distance. "That's too far to make tonight. Cripes, how can you see that far?"  
  
"I don't quite know, Tegan. A difference in my visual cortex of some sort, but I agree about the distance," he stated. He glanced at her. In the coming light of the day, she appeared flushed, but he thought it might be a slight overlay of his infrared with his visual. Or...he thought with a sigh...he was seeing her blood in her veins. With a worrying look he glanced at the sky. "In the cave, Tegan."  
  
She sighed and nearly tumbled in with him following quickly. 


	3. Follow the Yellow Brick Road

The moon rose slowly. It seemed like it always did on the days when she went home. The secondary, lighter minor moon lit the sky as she walked at a fast clip out of the station head and across the open space to the transport. Her last few steps were jogged and she stuck her head in the already powered transport.

"Were you thinking to leave without me?" she asked, harshly. "Always the same with you, Lukan. Don't you know I have to throw together me packet AFTER I get off shift?"

Lukan continued to look forward, through the clear windbreak and into the middle distance. "Yeah, I know. But with all the talk about the facility with the final studies, it's a worry whether or not we'd actually be able to get out of here. If you weren't on board by the end of moonrise, I was going to leave. Sorry, old thing."

Umbria sighed and set down her gear in back of the seat. Bucket seats, behind a console that to her scientific eyes was well out of date, and a small central pedestal rounded out the complete cockpit. After all, she thought, it was a private transport, but still. "Luke, you haven't..." she sighed as she climbed in along side him. "You haven't considered updating this...antique?"

He turned to her and smiled as she flopped in the seat. In the dim light of the newly risen moon, the interior of transport looked gray instead of silver. But the light was enough to illuminate Luke's incisors as he laughed. "Lights all, Bri...you'll never be happy with technology."

With a sigh, she settled back against the seat and shook her head. "If I were, I wouldn't think of ways to improve it all, would I?"

"Hmm," he muttered as he leaned forward to put the transport into drive. It rose from the ground, leaving behind a swirl of dust. "And I wouldn't tell you how to go about your improvements, could I?"

Bria laughed but then waved her hand. "You know how out manager is, Luke, old man; you'd better get us pointed home. Old Kion won't allow us any extra time and with the test in the next few weeks, we'll be lucky if he allows any more shore leave."

Luke nodded firmly. He caressed the controls like a veteran pilot and slid his hands around the steering column. With a flourish, he swung the transport around in front of the dormitory. In the night, the dust swirled like a comet trail. As they roared out of the courtyard and past the main scientific building, Bri looked over her shoulder. Luke gave it all a cursory glance. The massive metallic structure in the middle of the campus rose like a turtle shell. "And after it's all done, we'll be sent home heroes, you know, darling."

* * *

A sole guard who really wasn't much armed like a guard moved along the main walkway. On both sides of him a yawning chasm opened. Not only was there seemingly limitless space under the catwalk, but overhead it was so vast that there seemed to be mist. Or maybe it was the humid temperature within.

He wasn't paid to look around; he was paid to make sure nobody else looked round.

But he often would wonder what was going on. It was so lights be damned bright about the place.

* * *

It was dark and Tegan felt worried about waking in the evening, as if something about her life had been turned topsy-turvy. Of course, the light breathing and occasional snores behind her ear would have alerted her to a change. He never slept, the Doctor, that is and that alone let her know that many things had indeed changed drastically.

But why would the Undead need sleep? Maybe, she thought with a great measure of hope, that he wasn't the Undead at all, just merely exhausted.

"No, Tegan," came the low timbre sigh. With a jolt, she turned and glanced at him.

"Cripes..." she grunted and turned, nearly stumbled. In the new dark, his pale eyes were so intense and nearly glowing. His hand closing on her elbow kept her from moving far from him. The hand against the rock was cut on the palm as she levered to keep herself upright.

"No, I'm not 'merely exhausted', I am a vampire," he stated simply. "It's a sort of fugue state that Vampires find themselves in during the day. Quite like hibernating, I would say."

"And I suppose you think I should just get used to it, eh?" Tegan asked, quietly. "I know that tone you're using. You bloody well use it every time you think I should have a handle on everything and should just get on with it all. This is different than you being a Time Lord and taking care of the boogie man, you know."

"Yes, well..." he muttered. She could hear him inhale and then felt his hand reaching for her palm. "Tegan..."

She tightened her fingers into a fist, but the strength of his fingers on her wrist forced the fist open. The smallish gash was plain to see even in the gloom and the blood flowed freely. Tegan forced a calm tone to her voice. "I don't quite like this, you know. Somehow we always seem on either ends, don't we? I mean, first off, I meet you and you're a Time Lord and now...you're a vampire. Always on opposite hands, aren't we? Next thing I know, I'll wake up a werewolf or something like that. Doctor..."

He held her hand, his thumb gently moving over her palm as if rubbing the blood into her skin.

"So what do we do about this? We've got to get to that settlement, right? Do we just walk in the door and say hello? Doc-"

He lifted her hand to within inches of his mouth. "Yes, well...Tegan, I'm hoping it will be as easy as that. We need to infiltrate and I suppose we'll have to come up with a cover story. Vampires are notoriously accepting of their own kind, but exceptionally exacting about those they accept into the fold who aren't of the befanged type."

"But what are they doing? Why must we stop them?"

"Tegan."

"Bloody hell, Doc...and don't tell me that you'll explain later. I want to know what's going on...I need to know what's going on." She bit her lip. He was intensely studying her hand.

The movement was quick; she wasn't expecting it. He pressed her hand to his mouth and, tensing, she prepared for a bite. All she felt was him...it wasn't quite a kiss, and it wasn't anything intimate. It was as though he wanted to not leave any marks on her body, but simply wanted her blood. That thought made her want to draw away, but as soon as his mouth worked over her cut, the pain eased.

A slow blink brought her gaze to his. His eyes were wide and to her, in the moonlight, they looked almost glass like they were so clear. There was a depth of pain, as if he knew he was doing something horrible but couldn't help himself.

"Doc..."

He pulled away from her hand as if struck.

Tegan pulled her hand back and rose to her feet. She strode across the ground, nearly tripping on the rocks until she was at the edge of the cave mouth. The air felt better there, more alive; it flowed across her skin like water. In the clear light, she glanced down at her hand. It seemed to be healing before her very eyes.

"Enzymes."

With a sigh, she turned around and stared at the Doctor. He had gained his height. Against the dark rock, he looked like a pale picture of Victorian horror. Even from there she could see his fangs. Still, a small voice in her head reiterated the same thing and it spilled out her lips. "It's the Doctor."

He sighed and slid his hands into his pockets. When he lowered his gaze, she found she could draw a breath. "Enzymes, Tegan. Consider what I did an experiment." He kept his sight to the floor and walked toward her. "I've often wondered if the genetics of a Vampire which causes the need for blood intact was associated with a pain killing or wound healing ability. You see, blood has a tendency to clot, Tegan. And well...if a person wants to get the most blood out of a being, they would need to use blood thinning and pain killing chemicals. And then finally..."

Tegan rubbed her palm. "Something to stop the bleeding so there's food for leftovers? That's what you meant by enzymes, wasn't it?"

"Well...yes."

She took a harsh step back. Suddenly he was alongside her. "You were hungry too..." she said quietly.

"Ah...well...yes..." he breathed. "But Tegan...I promise...I won't do more than that. You can trust me."

With a firm shake of her head, she leaned back into the rocks. "I do trust you, Doc. I've been with you this long and you've gotten me out of a great deal. I wouldn't have lived this long if I didn't trust you, more fool me. But...Doc...we're going to have to do something before you want to have more than a nibble..."

* * *

"It looks just like an Earth village..." Tegan breathed. She was leaning against what appeared to be a dead tree. There weren't too many around. And, come to think of it, there wasn't much by way of vegetation. On the way to the settlement, she had tripped along a path that looked like an old horse trail. The ruts on the road were deep and there just seemed to be the hint of mud. On either side of them, as far as the eye could see, there appeared to be one type of crop. It was low to the ground and even with her family's experience with a farm, she still had no clue as to what it was. It didn't surprise her though,; after all, it was an alien planet.

The Doctor sighed and glanced over at her. He stood in the middle of the path, as he had for most of the trek. Tegan had taken to hiding behind objects when they rested. "Yes, well..." he rubbed at the back of his neck. "Remind me to tell you about Gallifreyan history, someday."

"Really, Doc..." she sighed. "Sounds right boring to me."

"Hmm," he replied. "It was. But it would help to explain to you why, in our travels, we run across so many bipedals."

"Would it?" she sniffed. "Still, it does look like an Earth village."

"With what appears to be candlelight," he agreed with a frown. "Very interesting."

She glanced back at him with raised eyebrows. "Interesting, how? It seems perfectly logical to me. They need to see."

"Hmm," he whispered. With a sigh, he turned and to glance at her. In the dark, he could see all of her, from her blowing hair to her bright eyes. "Tegan, Vampires have acutely strong eyesight. And they are creatures of the night, which allows their infrared and motion sight to be increased. Why do they need candlelight? They should be able to see best in the dark."

Tegan sighed and shrugged. "Good point, I suppose." She glanced around again at the plants by her feet. "Don't Vampires only need blood for food?"

"They need the hemoglobin, yes."

"Then what's with the crops?" Tegan toed the small plant. The Doctor quickly crouched, his arms resting on his knees and studied the plants.

"Hmm, interesting...something in the legume family by the look of it. Indeed, Tegan...what would they need with grown food?" He rose and dusted off his hands. "Well, other than to feed the animals that they could feed on." He squinted at the village and nodded. "No time like the present. We'd best make our way there. I'm sure everything will become clear."

"Yeah," Tegan groused. "As clear as muddy glass, I'm sure. Well, come on, then..."

She began to walk towards the village and with a last swipe at his trousers, he followed.

"Looks like a graveyard."

The Doctor hummed and moved passed her into the heart of the village. "Stay behind me, Tegan."

The aura of the village was heavy with silence. It seemed like even the wind was becalmed. The Doctor seemed wary, on edge and he stopped which caused her to walk into his back. His arm flicked out to keep her near. "Doc is all this necessary?"

He twisted, as if alerted to a noise she couldn't hear. With a blink she noticed they were surrounded. Soundlessly, tens or even fifty, people surrounded them. They looked, to Tegan's eyes, just as she was, but from the way that the Doctor's muscles tightened, she knew he was sensing differently. "I suppose it is," she continued, at a whisper.

Two of their gathered group approached them, drawing close. Even in the dim, she could see the fangs.

"You are..." one said, obviously stumbling over the words. "Like us. But she..."

The Doctor straightened. "She is with me."

Tegan lowered her head and released a slow breath. "That's the first time," she commented to the darts of his shirt. "I'm glad to hear that."

"She has blood."

The voice that answered their statement was so far from the Doctor's that Tegan wondered who was speaking. It was hoarse and deep, tone on tone, and jarred her to the bone. Only his arm at her back kept her knees from buckling. If she hadn't been nearly against him, she felt like she would have been running to him; the call in his voice to her psyche was that loud. "She's with me."

It caused a similar reaction in those around them. They completely stilled, as if rooted in space.

"Doc..." she gasped.

"Where have you come from?"

Tegan saw a female approach them. She was taller, but not towering over those from the village. Other than her height, Tegan could tell little about her. There was a different tone in her voice, a gentler call.

"As far as I knew, there were no bipedal blood formers planetside."

The Doctor inhaled. Glancing up at him, there was little she could see accept that strange glittering in his eyes. It reminded her of pictures of Rasputin. "We're from the North and got lost in the canyon near here when our transport crashed. "

The woman drew near. "She is a blood former. Interesting. I had heard that in the remote scientific

Settlements near the polar regions there had been attempts at genetic technology to create a bipedal blood former. The blood is cooler..."

Tegan winced as the woman drew even closer.

"Lukan! Come see..."

"Oh no," Tegan whispered as she grasped the Doctor's shirt. "Not a science experiment. Cripes..."

The Doctor's hand patted her arm before it dropped. "Experiment or not, she is sentient and I would appreciate her..."

The male who answered to Lukan appeared at the edge of the group. "By the light, you mean they did it, Bria? Unbelievable. I wonder how the blood tastes..."

The hiss that erupted from the Doctor scared Tegan as much as those around them. "She is "

Lukan shook his head. "Your pet?" Wary, the man adjusted his stance. "Look, why don't you and the female come inside. Bria and I are on leave from the Main Dome. We're both involved in the scientific process..."

The Doctor's lips tightened but he reached for Tegan's hand. She covered it with her other one and nearly ran to keep up with his fast paces. "Thank bloody God..." she whispered. "I thought they'd never ask. But Doc, we have to talk about your vocal skills..."


	4. I'mwhat?

Tegan stumbled after the Doctor, her sight at a loss in the dark. The night was at its height and there were clouds in front of the moons. She had to rely on the Doctor. As they entered the building, she blinked. They were in almost complete darkness.

His hand tightened on hers. "Brave heart..." he said, in that voice of his and suddenly she felt better.

"Wonderful," she sighed. "A manipulator by day, give you a bit of voice lessons and suddenly you're bloody Rasputin by night."

"At least I'm on your side," he replied. "Now, hush, Tegan."

The room they stopped in was similar to a one that might be found in a thatched house, like an all purpose room. It grew even darker to her eyes.

"I can't believe they actually engineered a bipedal blood former. But then again, I wouldn't believe a great deal of what's been going on in the last standard year around here." Tegan could tell it was the male speaking. "Have you tasted the blood? Like ambrosia? I had heard that it's the way the blood would have to be taken that would make it better."

Tegan felt the Doctor turn slightly to look down at her. "Ah well, yes...yes, I have tasted her blood..."

She frowned and tried to stamp on his foot.

The woman approached her and stopped, holding out her hand. Tegan felt the icy touch on her cheek. "So warm, but cooler than our animals, I would say. Sweet is it? Her blood, I mean."

"An acquired taste. I'm the Doctor, by the way. Look, she doesn't have the same visual cortex that you and I do...would it be acceptable to allow a small bit of light? I don't wish to keep her in the dark..."

"Oh, I don't know," Tegan whispered. "You seem to do that all the time."

His sigh was overwhelmed by the sound of a light flickering on. Tegan blinked to steady her vision. The girl came into focus first. She was medium tall with dark hair and a lanky body. She smiled at Tegan and her incisors were very visible. Attempting to minimize her fear, she stepped forward, even with the Doctor and held out her hand. "I'm Tegan."

"Tegan? Interesting name. Did he name you?"

"Hardly."

"I'm Umbria. Sorry if we seem a bit caught up in your...existence."

Tegan lifted her chin. "Yeah, well...born or made out of testtubes, I'm still a person."

"Quite," the Doctor responded. "Tegan, as I've tried to say, is a friend. I have tasted her blood, but she doesn't exist strictly for my sustenance."

"Well said," the male answered. "I'm Lukan. Bria and I are on leave from the Dome. We work on the research there...maybe you've heard of it? Rather hush hush...not many in the viziership talk about it or pass it on. But we've been rather...caught up in our work...we've heard about other work projects but not..."

"Understandable."

Tegan frowned. The Doctor's voice still had not changed; it still had that overwhelming pull to it, making her itch to stand near him.

"You say your transport went down. That's a bit of a bother. Not hurt were you?"

"Not in the least..." the Doctor responded and then looked at Tegan. "You're from the Dome, you say? That's where I was heading with...Tegan, here. I was to show the extent of genetic engineering to the powers that be."

"Then it was a bother the transport went down," Bria replied. "You would have had a bit of a walk if you had bypassed the village; it's almost a half a day by standard transport. Would have been days on foot." With a gleeful glance at Lukan, she continued. "Look, we're heading back in two days. That's when leave ends. We'll take you back with us. Would that be soon enough?"

"I'd be grateful," the Doctor responded. Tegan could see the relief in his eyes and was sure it was two fold. One, they had been accepted; two, they were getting taken to a place of power. It was almost too easy in her estimation.

Bria smiled widely. "I'd better find you a place to batten down then, for the day."

"It'll be soon, will it?"

"Quite soon. The Day comes sooner here than at the poles, admittedly. Been a while since you were in the Inhabitable Zones, eh?" Lukan joked. He stepped to behind Tegan and reached to play with her hair. "Unbelievably believable. You even have hair texture down....amazing..."

Tegan squirmed, but Lukan's hand landed heavily on her shoulder. "Hey..."

"I know she's a friend, as you say, but couldn't I taste the blood, old man? After all, it has been synthetic for as long as I can remember."

A lead lump formed in her stomach and she quickly knew it was the result of fear. She wanted to reach out and grab anything, a weapon, a plate, something to hit him over the head with it. A feverish glance at the Doctor showed that he was staring at her with a strange look in his eyes. But it wasn't fear inspiring. Rather, she felt an odd sense of peace washing over her. With a gasp, Tegan tried to step forward, but the hand restrained her. "Doc..."

The Doctor's hand grasped hers and pulled her forward towards him. "Lukan, was it? Look, I'm sorry, but I'm to bring her to the Dome with most of her blood in tact. If I let you feed, I'd have to let Bria feed and then, well..." He smiled. "It's only fair. The poor girl's only got so much blood in her, you know."

Lukan appeared disappointed. Tegan watched the blue in his eyes swirl and twist. In her gut she felt the pain acutely, as if he were putting the pain there physically. She tried to shake the feeling. "Yeah, and although I'm replenishable, it takes time, doesn't it, Doc?"

"Yes," he drew the word out. "Tegan's a bit tired; we've had a rough day...."

"Hmm and she'll need nourishment. We've some greens that we've been growing for the blood beings. Can she eat it?" Bria asked while turning to the door. "Lukan...show them the extra room in my parents' house. I'll bring the nourishment there."

Tegan warily glanced at Lukan, but the Doctor bestowed his most congenial smile on the lot of them. "Too kind!"

* * *

"It's a tomb!"

Tegan waited until the door had shut before she made the comment. The Doctor didn't make a comment using his energy otherwise to find a candle. It flickered on in the quiet and she got a better look at the room. Sparse was the only word that she could think of to describe what she saw. There was only something that would constitute a bed in the room: a small collection of linens that looked more like a nest than a bed. The dull plaster walls were devoid of windows or art.

The Doctor hummed and contemplated the room. "It's how they live, Tegan."

"No creature comforts?"

"As I told you, vampires exist in a fugue state during the day...they don't really sleep. The waking schedule is driven by the rise of the sun." He looked at the 'nest' and slipped his hands into his pockets. "Yes, well...it's manageable...for you. Tomorrow, Tegan...we shall have to find you shoes."

"Too right," she replied. She frowned and turned about to spear him with a glance. "Why on Earth did they listen to you?"

"Hmmm...interesting, isn't it? I rather think it was my voice."

"Yeah," Tegan agreed as the door opened behind her. Bria stuck her head in.

"I'll have to apologize for Lukan earlier...he's rather upset with the synthetic blood supply we're given at the Dome. And he is quite interested in the idea of bipedal engineering. The poor lad is tied up with work...he doesn't get out much." She entered the room and shut the door. "I've brought those greens for you, Tegan. I'm afraid it's all we have..."

The Doctor intercepted the greens before they could be placed into Tegan's hand. Tentatively, he sniffed at the small plant. "In the legume family? To which of your blood feeders do you give this?" He tilted back his head to see it from a different angle. "Hmmm. It does seem safe enough."

Tegan huffed. "It could poison me for all you know. No 'bipedals' as you've put it...eat it."

"Yes, well..." the Doctor sighed as he lowered the branch from in front of his face to stare at Tegan. "There is no other way...our food stuffs for you were...decimated in the crash. If you wish to eat, this is what they have. And graciously offered too, I might add."

She took the branch and gave a weak smile to Bria. "Thank you. I'm sure it's delicious..."

"It's meant for nourishment, not taste, I'm afraid."

"Adds flavor to the blood, I gather," the Doctor replied. "Interesting."

"You don't have similar..."

"Oh heavens no," he responded. "We can't grow anything in the polar regions, I'm afraid. It's all synthetic for us. But thank you...I'm sure it will do the job it is supposed to. "

Bria nodded. "I'd like to talk to you more about your research. May we speak at moonrise? You can join my family in the feast."

Tegan watched the Doctor's face. To one that did know him, the minute wincing in his jaw muscles, the change of twinkle in his eye spelled his disdain for the topic mentioned, but outwardly, to one that did not know him, nothing would seem amiss. "Nothing would please me more, Bria. In the evening, then?"

With a wide smile, Bria nodded and closed the door.

There was a space of silence between the friends. Only the sound of their feet shuffles and breath disturbed the perfect quiet of the grave. That thought made Tegan shiver. In a tomb, because that was where the Doctor needed to be; the thought almost made her physically hurt.

"I don't much like being treated like this, Doctor. You're going to discuss a genetic project you know nothing about, have me eat food that we have no clue what it is and join the family in a feast?" Tegan lowered her hands and the food so that she could look at him fully. "I just want to make sure I understand this. Hell's teeth, Doc...the first two make sense, but the third? Are you really going to eat with them?"

The Doctor's eyes darkened. "I am rather hungry, Tegan, but you're right. I don't think I'll be able to stomach that eventuality, but there's no use in thinking about it until I have to deal with it, is there, hmm?"

Tegan wrapped her arms around her and went to the collection of blankets. With a grunt, she sat down heavily.

"Regardless, Tegan, those greens do look harmless. If they are indeed in the legume family, you should be fine, unless, of course, you have an allergy to nuts. No? I thought not. Go ahead and eat them." He rubbed his temples. "The sun is coming up, I can feel it. I'll have to go into a state soon."

With a sour look, she lifted the food to her mouth and began to nibble on the leaves. After a moment, her face eased. "They're sweet!"

The Doctor nodded as he walked around their room, his hands firmly in his pockets. "Ah, well...people on your planet add corn to the diet of bovines to increase the tenderness of the meat; the vampires here add sweet food to the diet of their animals to raise the sweetness level of the blood. Makes perfect sense."

She glanced at the leaves in agitation. "Oh great. And what about that voice of yours? Planning on being a snake charmer? Why are they listening to you?"

"Yes, well, I could experiment to see if the theory I'm formulating is correct, but it would present a great deal of personal danger to myself..."

"Which is?"

"That compared to this lot," he remarked as he turned around to glance at her. "I'm old. To test that I should wait until the sun comes up and see what damage it does to my skin and systems."

"Oh no," she shook her head as she finished the greens that were brought for her. "No, Doctor. I might want you to rush out and take care of things at times, but this isn't one of those. You're bloody well staying put. Right here. Out of the sun. What if it would..."

"Hush, Tegan. Yes, I know..." he responded. He talked over her easily. "I'm not going to do that." He rubbed at his temples again, wincing. "And although I like our little argument here over virtually nothing, Tegan, I do feel the need to...hibernate as it were."

With interest, Tegan watched as the Doctor sat down on the blankets next to her and began to unlace his shoes. "You'll pass out again?"

"Quite. Out like a proverbial light." He gave her a glance. His eyes were weary, their blue depths a dark gray and his brow wrinkled in concentration. "Are you tired?"

"Exhausted, but I don't think I'll be able to sleep. That door doesn't have a lock on it, you know. And Lukan seems to think I'm dinner," she protested. With a firm shake of her head, she sighed. "I'll just stay awake, I suppose. Was never a day sleeper..."

The Doctor frowned and waved his hand towards the wall. There were pillows piled along it's rough surface. If Tegan didn't know better, she would have given them silk any day. "Lie down, Tegan. Sleep is the best for the both of us. You'll need the energy, I think."

"I'm not.."

"That's a simple matter of suggestion," he murmured. His eyes were dark in the coming dusk of daybreak. "Lie down, Tegan."

Although he didn't use the voice, she hesitantly and bad temperedly did as he said. As she stretched out, he turned to glance down at her. "I'll sleep closest to the door, Tegan; you'll be perfectly all right."

"I thought vampires needed something or someone to watch over them while they sleep..." she responded hotly.

"Don't worry, Tegan," he muttered. The tone on to tone in his voice had reappeared and had some bass and force behind it. "Go on...close your eyes...sleep..."

She yawned and gave him a sour glance. "You're getting too good with that...and I hate that I have to listen to you."

The last thing she saw as her eyes slipped closed was the Doctor gently smiling at her.

* * *

...and when she awoke, he was sitting beside her and was lacing up his cricket boots. She came awake as if someone had flicked on a light in her mind. It was amazingly sudden. There was no slight haziness of thought that sometimes accompanied her wakefulness. With a deep breath, she looked accusingly to her friend. "You're responsible for that, aren't you?"

"Good evening," he said quietly. "And yes..."

She rose and stretched. "That was to keep me from over sleeping, I suppose. Bloody hell...like an alarm clock, you are..." Her feet ached from the cold and she stomped them on the ground to bring feeling to them. "Doc...good Lord, are you feeling all right?"

A weary gaze met hers. In the light of the single candle, the Doctor looked deathly pale. His hair, normally very healthy and clean looking hung limply over his forehead. There was an almost albaster gleam to his skin and, as he laced his shoes, his hands shook.

"Yes, yes...Tegan, perfectly all right..."

"Bullshit."

The statement made him start and frown. When his gaze returned to her, she was shocked to see that he couldn't concentrate his sight on her. "Yes, thank you for your thoughts on the matter, Tegan."

"Doc..." she breathed and stepped forward towards him.

He rose abruptly and turned his back on her. The body language was exclusive and Tegan fought to respect it. "I shall have to meet with Bria today to talk about the genetics program..."

"I'll come along with you," she stated. It wasn't a question in her mind.

"Tegan..." he sighed. His shoulders slumped in what could have been dejection. "I would prefer if you found other things to keep you..."

She hardened her expression. "Hell's Teeth! Have you forgotten that they could use me as meal d'jour? I want to stay with you because you're the only one I can trust right now." Her eyes widened. "Seriously, Doc...you know I'm not usually one that..."

When the Doctor turned and faced her, she gasped. He looked old. Yes, he was still the young man she knew, but the look in his eyes seemed older than time. His face looked pained, pale and lined. "Tegan...I don't know if staying with me is the of action."

"Good Lord..." Tegan did come forward this time and reached for him. He almost flinched from her touch.

"Please, Tegan..." he responded, allowing only the gentlest touch to his arm. He stilled and then with an inhale he straightened his spine. "Yes, yes, of course, you can stay with me." He led the way from the room with her hand on his arm. Bria smiled at them from across the room and rose from the table to cross to them. "But Tegan, if I begin to behave irrationally...with anger or...out of...hunger..."

"Cripes!" She gripped his arm.

"Not now, Tegan..." he warned under his breath and rubbed at his brow with his other hand. He gave her a tentative smile at her shocked expression. "I doubt it will come to that. I've been invited to the feast this evening...yes, Tegan, I know, but I do believe I'm being physically affected by lack of hemoglobin. I'll have to eat...no, don't look at me like that." He nodded. "It is strictly a scientific observation at the state of my health." His eyebrows went up. "Interesting. Whereas usual hunger causes similar responses only after a few weeks...the need for food is greater under this genetic influence-"

"Always bloody science," Tegan muttered. Bria was drawing near. "I'm staying with you. I wouldn't last a bloody hour."

"Good nightfall, you two," Bria greeted them. Tegan smiled in return and glanced at the family. They looked almost similar to the girl in front of her. "The feast will be in a few hours. Let me tell you, Luke is practically foaming at the mouth...by Pyrithra, Doctor....are you well?"

"Perfectly, although a little hungry..." He gave a weak smile. "But that will be taken care of soon enough. I believe we have a discussion to have, Bria. Tegan will be with us..."

"That's very smart," Bria agreed. "Until tonight, everyone will be looking for blood."

* * *

"Tegan's been given approximately 80% similarity genetically with our race," the Doctor explained quietly. "The other experiments weren't as successful. In order to manage bipedal movement, we had to incorporate that much of our genetics. The body temperature was raised in order to allow an easier maintenance. Additionally, for space exploration, this particular body would be the most moveable and adaptable."

The Doctor nodded and waved a hand absently toward Tegan. She fought the urge to cover herself with her hands although she was fully clothed. And she doubted her frown of discomfort was noticed by the Doctor or Bria. "Similarity in form also allows for some form of compatible and easy blood letting."

The urge to say thanks Doc almost made Tegan growl under her breath. The response made Bria smile. "She has complete emotional capability?"

"Ah," the Doctor responded as he cast a quick glance at Tegan. "Yes."

"And the logic of that? Surely blood letting if one were to do too much would be terrifying to her."

"Too right," Tegan muttered. The Doctor gave her a reproachful look.

"Yes, yes it might be," the Doctor began. He rubbed at the back of his neck with a weary hand. "But our ability to blood let allows for the production of certain enzymes to decrease pain. Tegan's ability to feel emotion would allow the pleasureable feeling, the possible euphoria that the bleeding would allow. One cannot have the pleasure without the possible pain or fear..."

Tegan couldn't say a word as the Doctor slipped his glasses on his face and neared her. "You see the closeness of the neck arteries to the surface?" he asked. "That would allow for quick ease and could be misconstrued as an erotic-"

"Erotic..." Bria approached Tegan and sized her up. Tegan felt like she was under a microscope and tried hard not to growl. "By the light! You've made her so she can carry young?"

"Well, yes..." the Doctor responded as he looked over his glasses at Bria. Tegan stifled a smile; the Doctor seemed at a loss for words for a moment. His recovery was quick and was heralded by a small pinkening of his cheeks. "Of course...they are expendable with shorter life spans. We need to have a refreshable source of movable blood. When with child, the female will be unable to be used for blood letting, but at the end of gestation..."

"Excellent point," Bria agreed. She stepped back from Tegan. With a smile, she nodded to the Doctor. "Upon our return to the Dome, I'll show you our work."

"That would be absolutely wonderful," the Doctor said quietly, reaching out to take Tegan's arm.

With squinted eyes, Tegan contemplated the village. It seemed like quite a few people were milling around. There was less light than there had been the night previously; the dousing of the candles and torches, she decided. She shivered; there was an air of joviality that chilled her; like hunters before a kill. "The feast will be..."

"In the central courtyard outside my family's house," Bria responded. "And will be beginning soon. Tegan, I think it would be in your best interest to stay inside the room allotted to you and the Doctor until later. Some might get a little...carried away with your presence." A look of pain crossed her features. "Luke and I included. It has been awhile since good food was put in front of us."

"You don't have to tell me twice," Tegan agreed.

"Very good, Tegan," the Doctor remarked as he led her about the village when Bria left them. She barely heard him. She was watching the surrounding people. It seemed as though they were going about their daily lives, as strange as that life seemed to her. There were animals hung over low poles propped in between two posts. Had she been somewhere else, she would have thought them to be tanning the hides. What it looked like, however, was a very crude method of blood letting. The viscous liquid poured from the wounds into metallic containers. She stopped almost despite herself and stood staring at the collection. The Doctor passed her and then turned. "Tegan?"

She shivered and gripped her arms as she crossed them over her chest. Ignoring most of what he was saying, and she was sure there was more that he had said she hadn't responded to, she sighed. "I would have thought they were curing the meat, but they want the blood. It seems so common place; like preparing the lambs for slaughter for dinner. Is it ceremonial, do you think?"

The Doctor inhaled and a quiver worked through his body. She shut her eyes with the truth of that image. One of her hands rubbed at her temple. "Don't talk, Doc...not now...I can tell you're nearly beside yourself with hunger. Look...you got past the questioning of my 'genetic origins' well enough. Cripes, I'm glad someone paid attention in science class. And I suppose you got your sums right. Is there anything else we can do? Here? Now? We're going..."

"Late tomorrow," he mumbled. It wasn't enough and Tegan came forward, one foot unsteadily in front of the other, as if drawn to him like an opposing magnet to a positive charge. He sighed and shook his head, backing away from her equally unsteadily. With a sharp clearing of his throat, he spoke again. "Stop. Tegan. Ignore my voice."

She had formed fists and slowed her walk and shook her head. "I'm trying. Doc...you have to eat...one day of you like this and I can barely stay where I am. And you were weak this morning...er...evening."

"I will," he responded darkly. "This evening. And to answer your original question, no there is nothing else we can do right now. We have to see what else is going on around here."

"Isn't it enough to know that they're making...people like me?" she whispered. She drew near to him anyway as others bustled around them. "Rabbits, that's horrible as it is, isn't it?"

"Well, yes," he agreed. He reached out to lay his hands on her shoulders. The touch was familiar, but Tegan was wary. "But only a piece of a rather gruesome puzzle. We need to find out the whole picture."

"Rabbits," she sighed.

"I quite agree," he replied. "Let's get you comfortable; I do believe that they're getting close to the meal."


	5. Ohgood grief what now?

As she bustled through the door of the private room she and the Doctor shared, she breathed a sigh of relief. Tegan had been in her share of clubs and parties, but the hype surrounding this one was immense in her estimation. The Doctor appeared to understand the growing need in the mob and ushered her in urgently. He gave barely a glance at anyone in the room and forcibly removed a man's hand from her arm. Unceremoniously and not without a bit of contained disdain, the Doctor opened the door and deposited her inside. With a final warning to wedge the lone chair in the room against the portal, he left.

And if the barely contained glimmer of hunger in the Doctor's eyes was any indication of the need for food of those vampires, Tegan was rather glad to be back in her tomb.

It was an easy darkness that night. The door shut with the chair pressed into the portal gave her a measure of safety. She was curled, comfortable, in the nest in the room. There was laughter, happiness in the air; the feast was in full swing. The aura of fear she had existed in for the last three days had heightened when the Doctor walked out the door. A few hours, standing, arms wrapped about her chest and pacing, staring at the door had shown no change. So with a measure of ease, she sank into the blankets and the Doctor's coat.

And sometime in the dark she fell asleep, lulled as much as by the familiar aroma of the Doctor's coat as by the laughter in the next room.

She sat upright in the nest, rustling the now familiar blankets, alerted by a sudden and sharp noise at the door. With a crack, the door flew open, pressed away by a very strong force to bang into the wall. The yipe in her throat was deadened by the realization that it was the Doctor. He entered and pressed the chair back into its place. In the dim and dark of the morning, he looked pale as a ghost. Even at twenty paces she could see the strain in his face, the pain in his eyes as they twinkled in what little light was in the room.

"Ah, Tegan...sorry to wake you..."

Weak and hoarse, the voice barely made her ears. She knew immediately that he was weak. The coarseness of the blanket scratched her hands as her fists tightened. The pit of her stomach, she felt the pull, the need in his voice.

"You didn't eat, did you?" she accused.

"Tegan..."

"Doc...you needed it. If you thought waking up this evening was bad, tomorrow will be worse..."

"Their idea of cuisine is not mine," he mumbled. "I couldn't..."

Tegan sighed. "You're the one that told me to attempt to understand their culture..."

The Doctor rounded on her, his red-rimmed gaze centered on her as he crossed the floor. She drew her legs in, coiling to run. There was an edge of danger in him that had her suddenly uneasy. "Shall I tell you, Tegan? Hmm?" he asked as he slowed, slipping his hands into his pockets. He bent at his waist to contemplate her. "Do you know what their idea of cuisine is? A slaughter. They ripped the throats out of the beasts. Look at me. Look my clothes, Tegan. Look at the blood...and this was from a distance."

She saw the swatches, the wide spray patterns of the darkness on his chest and arms and fought to keep the shiver from working through her body. He looked like he had been in the middle of a mass murder.

"I couldn't...deal...with that level of violence," he rumbled.

"And when you rip my throat out in a fit of hunger?"

The Doctor seemed to stop breathing, stopped moving. Tegan gripped the blanket harder. She wanted to pull it up over her, to hide, to burrow. Still, she forced her fear to the back and confronted her friend. "What are we to do then? Doc, it will happen...you can't...not...eat..."

He suddenly crouched next to her. "I wouldn't..."

"Wouldn't you?" Tegan demanded. With a sigh, she held up her arm to him. "You can see the blood in me, can't you? You can hear it."

"Tegan.."

"And when you can't stand the drive anymore? What am I to do about that then? Doc...I'm worried about you...I'm worried about me..." she breathed. "I don't want to be your meal and let you feed to my death."

The Doctor was staring at her arm, his gaze far away and barely coherent. Something in her snapped. Her friend was becoming a shell, lifeless before her eyes. He was unable to concentrate and that would get them killed. He was unable to keep others away from her and that would get her killed. She pushed down the blanket and edged closer to him. "Doc...if you were you still have your..."

"While I still have a sliver of my personality in my control?" he asked, his voice hoarse. "I wouldn't kill you, Tegan...I wouldn't harm you."

She pushed back the portion of material on her arm. The flash of hunger in his eyes made her stomach clench. She had seen him tiring and in pain for the last two days; she didn't want to see him get worse. "Feed..." she said quietly, looking down at her arm. "On me, Doc. Do it while you can control it. I don't want to see you will yourself to death. I NEED you in one piece and coherent."

He slowly brought his eyes up to look at her. "Tegan..."

"Look, it isn't like myths on Earth, is it? I'm not going to become your slave or some such nonsense. I've actually thought about this while you were gone..." She leaned forward, trying in vain, she knew, to keep the fear and disgust at what she was offering to a minimum. Deep down in her heart she knew that it was the only way to keep it controlled...and to keep the both of them alive. "I know you won't kill me, Doc..."

His voice was barely above a whisper. "Don't be so sure, Tegan. Vampirism and it's need for food run deep."

"Just do it," she muttered. "Before I can't handle it, Doc. We should have done this before." She pushed her arm up in front of his face. "Please..."

The Doctor took her arm in his cold hands and swallowed hard. He quivered and, sickeningly, Tegan couldn't tell if it was from restraint or from need. "Here?" he muttered as he tapped his fingers against her wrist, against the blue veins under the surface. "I'll need oxygenated blood."

"Whatever," she whispered and lifted her chin. "Just don't do too much damage."

His eyes softened and he released her arm. With a very gentle touch, he moved the tendrils of hair at her neck and pressed his rough forefinger against her neck just shy of her ear. "There's a reason vampires feed on the neck, Tegan. More blood, easier, quicker. If I were to do it on your carotid artery, it would be less painful for you, and..."

"It would be quicker..." Tegan sighed. "Enzymes."

He sighed and ruffled the hair at her nape. "Tegan...I don't want to...harm you..."

The answer was quick and concise. "Then don't. Doc...do it!"

His fingers moved her hair away from her nape and she tilted her head to the side. His fingers were cold and his breath was colder still against her skin. She squeezed her eyes shut which made her exist with only tactile sensation. There were two short sighs, mere puffs of breath, against her skin. Then the touch of something like icicles, wet and cold, on her neck. Tegan sighed with the imagination that it was his lips. And then, sharp like a bee sting, he penetrated her vein. She started, but didn't move as his hands landed on her shoulders to keep her from moving.

"Ouch..." she whimpered. But then warmth spread over her, languid like lying in warm sunlight, and the pain disappeared. Her whimper quieted into a sigh; all she could feel was his lips against her skin. "Oh that's nice..." she breathed.

The cold left her neck and she felt rather than heard: "No pain?"

She shook her head once. He shifted against her, and she felt his legs slide to the right of hers. Then there was pressure against her neck again. She closed her eyes again and relaxed back against his arm. The only strange feeling she had before she drifted off in a sea of tactile sensation and warmth was that it felt a little too intimate to sit with him like that. But soon that thought too drifted off into the ether.

* * *

"Tegan?"

"Hmm?" she asked dreamily as she blinked her eyes open. It was growing lighter in the room. "Doc? Are you better?"

"Better," he agreed. "But you'll be weak. If we're to continue this, we shall have to do less more often. I took as little as I was able, but I do think it was more than I should have."

She felt him lift her, arm under her back and under her knees. The blankets and coat seemed warm and welcoming as she was set down in its embrace. "Doc? You won't need more tonight..."

"No. Just sleep, Tegan," he whispered, his voice tone and tone. "You'll be better in the evening."

As she settled down to sleep, she felt him lie next to her. The first stray thought she had spilled out her mouth: "Was their feast that horrid?"

He sighed. "Yes, well...I suppose it wasn't horrible to their standards, but it was violent."

"I can't believe that of Bria..." she yawned.

The last thing she heard was: "I'll be right here, Tegan. I promise."

* * *

Lukan wiped his mouth as he ducked out the door to meet Umbria on the step. The sun hadn't quite risen and they had some time. After that feast, Luke had decided it was best to get some air. He smiled down at the spray pattern on the front of his shirt and the nearly matching one the girl's chest.

"Quite wonderful, wasn't it?" he asked quietly as he drew alongside her. "The feast, that is. I loved the actual letting. There's something about doing the biting into flesh that makes me...even hungrier."

Umbria nodded. "But the Doctor didn't eat..." she replied.

Luke frowned as he licked his fingers. He stopped and contemplated the end of his digits discerningly. "I had noticed that."

"Probably has been too long since he had live food-"

"He's got that bipedal," Lukan mused, cutting her off. "He bleeds her, doesn't he? Wouldn't you? Fresh blood...and you mentioned that it was possible that she likes it."

"And it's possible that she feels fear as well. Never mind if he does. Tegan doesn't recoil in fear from him; she trusts him unlike the rest of us."

"You told him about the Dome?" Lukan asked, suddenly.

"She doesn't want to be fed on by you," Bria laughed. "Good try with the change of subject and no, I didn't. I did hear about the polar attempts at genetic engineering; very interesting. He's coming back with us to the Dome; he'll see it soon enough."

Lukan shrugged and Bria laughed harder in response. "Maybe I should transfer," was the last thing he said before he disappeared off into the beginning of daybreak.

"What is that thing?" Tegan asked.

The Doctor squinted and gave a slight smile in the dim of the new night. "A transport, of a personal nature. Very similar to the transports on Gallifrey if I'm not mistaken," he responded. As he turned to speak to her, he cleared his throat and adjusted Tegan's collar to cover his bite marks. Her hand flew to the wounds. She knew it made him guilty to see them; it was a sign of what he thought was his weakness. They weren't in agreement on that.

"Doc..." she had responded as he had pulled away from her neck that evening. He had only fed for five minutes; she felt none of the classic weakness she had felt for the last two evenings. Part of her was angry that she worried about whether he had actually taken enough blood. The words caught in her throat when she asked: "Are you sure...Rabbits...have you had enough food, Doc?"

He reached forward and pressed his finger against her neck. The wounds ceased to seep under his touch. "More than enough," he had replied earnestly, but his eyes were wary as he contemplated her.

She adjusted her collar. "I think they know that you feed on me by now, Doc..." she said.

"Ah, yes," he muttered, "but I would rather not create an advert for it. Do keep it covered up."

Tegan grunted and crossed her arms over her chest. "And we're to ride in that thing...where? In the boot?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes and reached out to drag her to the transport. She followed and thanked whatever God lived in that world that she had shoes as they tripped over the uneven ground.

"Tegan...what? Oh...the shoes...sorry, but you'll have to deal..." he muttered and then drew up short next to the transport. "Ah, good moonrise, Luke! Wonderful evening, isn't it?"

Lukan stopped what he was doing. Tegan recognized the packets of blood that she had seen Bria's mother preparing the last two days. It had seemed to her like the canning her grandmother had done when she was a child and as she saw the packets, she realized what they were for: care packages from home. They were piled in the side of the very small backseat of the transport. He intercepted her look. "Yes, a wonderful evening, Doctor. You're looking better; you've eaten, I take it. Good. Was worried about you there. And we don't often have guests with us when we head back to the Dome; it will be a tight fit back there." With a laugh, he continued. "Bri and I won't be separated from our food, you understand, don't you, old man?"

"Oh..." Tegan saw the Doctor move and was more than a little agitated when he completed his sentence and found his eyes unconsciously on her. "Quite."

"Good, good..."

"Oh for the love of Pyrthia, Lukan!" Bria called as she burst from her house. Tegan jumped at the sound; the girl's voice was tone on tone. "We have to get going...we'll be late. They'll shut the gates on us again. Always the first one for home and the last one back..."

The Doctor frowned and climbed into the door of the transport. He stood, bent, staring about the interior until Tegan tumbled in after him to collapse in the back area. It wasn't really a seat, but it looked to be the area prepared for them. Bri tossed her satchel to Luke and smiled into the interior. "Moonrise! I suppose you've found out that Lukan pilots a very...out of date...transport and one that's for all primary purpose a two seater."

"Hmm, yes well..." The Doctor twisted about and looked for a seat.

"How are you at piloting a transport, old man?" Lukan asked. "I could sit in the back...with Tegan on my lap. It's only for a short trip...about a standard hour..."

Bria gave Tegan a wide grin as the Doctor tapped Tegan on the arm and she rose. A second later, he sat and reached up to make Tegan sit on the packs in the back half on his lap. "Lukan...haven't you learned?" she asked with a teasing tone. "The Doctor is very protective of his charge and he's seen you eat. Are you comfortable back there?" She continued as she climbed into the interior and collapsed on the seat.

"Ah, well..."

Tegan exasperatedly sighed and shifted. "As comfortable as sardines in a can," she replied. The Doctor humphed.

"Good!"

Luke grumbled and geared the transport to leave. It left the ground a short distance and lurched forward. Tegan gave the Doctor a glare and turned her eyes toward the moving view outside. The edge of the village approached and Tegan saw the fields and the beasts corralled. In the light of the twin moons, she could tell that the animals were all alive and several had young. "Oh Lord...that will be..." she breathed.

The Doctor hummed. "I can't say it won't be the fate of bipedal blood formers, Tegan," he agreed. She twisted in the seat, oblivious to Bria and glared at the Time Lord.

"That's inhumane..."

"They aren't humans," he whispered. "And for the purpose of the blood formers, it would be no different than cows or chickens on your planet. You use them for food; the inhabitants of this planet would use bipedals..." he touched at her neck impersonally. "...the same way."

"Hell's teeth," she hissed. "Have I told you that I have a hard time seeing that side of things?"

* * *

"Lukan is asking for permission to land."

The statement was said without emotional inflection. Yei lifted his eyes tiredly from the reports in front of him. His second in command stood just to the inside of the door of his office. The yellow of his uniform reflected what little light was in the room and made the young man look exceptionally pale.

"Returned, have they?" Yei shook his head and lowered his gaze to the papers on his desk. "I assume that he has an excuse for his tardiness."

"He says he has a representative from the Trench Research Station, Polar Region on board." The assistant shuffled his feet. "With a product of their research on board. He sounds rather impressed. He requests permission for Umbria to bring the representative to you-"

"Of course!" Yei snapped with an impatient wave of his hand. "What did you think the answer would be?" He squinted at the assistant. A glance of the young man's shoulder, he nodded. "Come in Dr. Pedra. Dismissed."

Pedra pushed in beside the confused assistant and shut the door soundly behind him. "Yei, you really must give that man a holiday."

Yei set down the reports with a sigh and rubbed his temples. "I should give every person on this project a holiday, Pedra, but there simply isn't the manpower nor the time to do so. Every single one of them..."

"I don't think you know the full extent of the exposure that they've had," Pedra responded unkindly. "Their systems have withstood the first exposure, but with the next phase starting..."

"If it doesn't work, they'll all have a long holiday," Yei responded with a grumble. "Need I remind you that you said there would be minimal side effects..."

"With the end product! Need I remind you, Yei, that we are still in the development stages?"

Yei rose from his desk. "And that we are nearing the deadline set by you and your superiors. That our...volunteers...are suffering certain illnesses is..."

A squawk from Yei's desk interrupted their argument. Pedra tossed a couple of reports to the surface as he rose to leave. "We are on schedule...sir." And with those words, he walked out the door.

* * *

"Good heavens," the Doctor breathed as the transport drew to a stop. His voice was barely above a whisper in Tegan's ear. "That is very reminiscent of Gallifrey, I must say."

"Must you?"

The response was more of an exaggerated sigh than a breath. And then he, as usual, ignored her. "Bria, I'm to guess that's the Dome?"

Bria leaned on the back of the seat and grinned at the Doctor. "Impressive isn't it? The largest research dome on the planet."

Tegan listened to the conversation in the background and gazed at the Dome. It dominated the area, rising several tens of stories off the ground. It looked like a large futuristic upside down bowl and appeared to be either black onyx or black glass; swallowing moonlight as it came into contact with it. There were attachments, not more than merely small houses attached to the side of the building.

"There are barracks and offices flanking the main research area," Bria was saying. "Completely self-contained. It took them five standard years to blast out enough Tridium to construct it."

"Five years?" The Doctor sounded impressed. "Tridium...whatever it is that you are doing, you certainly don't want it interrupted, do you?"

Lukan stifled a laugh. "Of course not. I say, it's rather silly that you don't know what goes on here."

"We didn't really know what went on in the polar regions either until the Doctor showed Tegan," Bria argued.

Tegan wriggled with impatience. "Showed, indeed."

"She has pride too?" Lukan sounded surprised. The Doctor frowned and Tegan felt a pinch at her arm and knew he wanted her to keep her mouth shut.

Bria, unknowingly, came to the Doctor's aid. "Well, we only heard rumors about the bipedal animals, Luke. We didn't know they were real until Tegan was introduced. Oh look...it appears that Chir is waiting for us. I wonder what we've done now."

Luke slowed the transport, setting it down gently in amongst other vehicles of similar form and use. Tegan shifted uncomfortably as she viewed another vampire. "Oh no..." she said, realizing that they were walking into the lion's den. _Why did the White Guardian have to send us here? It seems like there's nothing that threatens the rest of the universe going on. And all it's giving me is a royal headache trying to keep from being sucked dry._

As the transport opened, the technician stuck his head in the door. "It's about time, you two. Yei's on the warpath looking for you. One of these days, you'll make it back on time." He glanced to the back of the transport. "Hello, you must be the representative from the Polar facility..." his eyes strayed to Tegan. "The Head of the Facility wants to see you. Bria, you're supposed to..."

"Escort them there," Bria finished for the man as she piled out of the transport and reached for her pack. "I had figured that..." she shook her head. "Oh, don't look so shocked, Chir," she laughed. "That's Tegan...a successful attempt at a bipedal blood former...do wipe the drool off your chin and yes, you can smell her blood."

The Doctor smiled and leaned forward, his hand extended in greeting. "Hello, I'm the Doctor and this is Tegan, as you've been informed. Quite a facility you have here..." he continued as he let Tegan preceed him out the door. Lukan helped her to the ground. "Bria, we don't want to keep you from your work longer than needed. I suppose you should show us to your leader..." He smiled widely at his joke that it seemed only Tegan realized. She gave a sour look at his back as he began to follow Bria. As an afterthought, she felt her hand grabbed and she was hurried away from Lukan.

She shrugged in apology and kept up his quick pace as they disappeared into the monstrous Dome.

* * *

Tegan stumbled as she disconnected herself from another overly interested technician as they walked through the Dome. The Doctor glanced behind them and inserted himself in the walking order immediately behind Tegan. "Couldn't that supervisor person take just ten minutes to see us?"

Bria frowned and opened another set of doors with her pass.

"He should have been able to. He must have been called into a meeting. I was left orders to bring the two of you to the primary observation deck. That's near my office." Her frown turned into a small smile. "I can show you my personal stake in this research project."

"Yes, well..." the Doctor muttered as he made sure the door shut behind them. "That will be very interesting, Bria. Exactly what are we going to witness?"

"Tonight is the beginning of the final stage of experimentation on our project. I'll have to be quick about a great deal of things; I'm needed to run the main switches..."

"Do you have a vantage point from your office?"

"Yes," Bria said as she escorted them through another door.

"Then we can just watch it from your office." The Doctor bestowed a wide smile on Bria. "Two birds in the hand and all that."

"What are you doing?" Tegan asked, quietly. She stood at the window and looked into the almost fathomless interior of the Dome. It seemed to her that there was enough room for a world and then some. There were the illusion of a blue sky at the top of it all, she thought. I wonder if it'll rain, she thought crazily. Still, there was the overwhelming feeling that she was in an enclosed space although the sides and tops of that space were not defined; like in the cloister room of the TARDIS. And just from the gleam, she envisioned technology beyond her wildest dreams from these cousins of the Time Lords.

The Doctor gave a chuckle. "Cousins, hmm? Interesting, Tegan."

"Hell's teeth..." A light hiss from the Doctor made her drop the volume of her voice.

"...you're listening to my thoughts," she commented, her arms crossed over her chest.

With a look akin to shock, the Doctor contemplated Tegan. "It was clear as if spoken," he muttered.

"Cripes," she cursed.

"Ah, well..." he cleared his throat and squinted out the window.

"Damn it," she whispered to her reflection. She fought to keep her anger under control. "You knew this was a possible side effect...didn't you?"

"Of our feedings? No, Tegan, I didn't. This, of course, means that I am transferring some sort of enzyme into your blood that matches the psychological control that is inherent in my voice," he sighed. "I had not expected there to be transfer and have it work so quickly."

Tegan glanced into the reflection and frowned. The Doctor looked morose in the reflection; his sad blue eyes were wide. She knew he would feel guilt on some level for the situation, and she had been the one that had both enticed him and offered herself for his food. "Well, it's done now, isn't it?" she stated as she lowered her eyes to stare out at the room below. "I don't like it, but there you have it."

He sighed and slipped his hands into his pockets.

"What are they doing?"

She jumped as his voice answered her back in her head. _I don't know, Tegan, but we do need to find out. _

"Look at the size of it down there..." she breathed. "What would they need a room that size for?"

He laid a hand on her shoulder and stepped closer to the pane of glass. He seemed to be intent on the movement below. "They're wearing radiation suits of sorts. Interesting. With their stamina and genetic make-up, they should be able to handle a fair amount of ambient high radiation levels. If this was a nuclear reactor, they still should be able to handle it." He sighed. "My only other theory is something to do with light...they would need protection from that."

Bria called over. "We're starting the next phase in ten minutes. Tegan might be able to see a closer view, but Doctor, you should remain here until we get you a suit."

He frowned, but Tegan replied. "Can I go closer? Without danger?"

Bria smiled. "If you wish...you might be the only one here that can. Lukan is at the next stage level...would you like to join him?"

Tegan turned and met the Doctor's eyes. He lifted an eyebrow and she felt his agreement. "Only if Luke minds his manners and understands that she's not dinner; I think she might find it interesting..." the Doctor stated.

"Oh, I think you've gotten that point across," Bria joked. "I'll call him, shall I?"

Tegan grinned. She returned her gaze to her friend. "I'll be all right..."

_Besides_, she thought, _we need to get a closer look, right? Just don't leave me with that swine any longer than I have to be. _


	6. All sunshine and roses

Tegan stumbled a run and followed Luke as fast as she was able. The door behind them closed and Tegan could hear the hiss of air being pumped from around the portal. "Cripes...lock down," she whispered. Then, with a sigh, she reached out to catch Luke's arm. "Where are we going...and why can't the Doctor come?"

Luke glanced over at Tegan with a look she had often seen on the Doctor's face. It reminded her of an absent minded professor who was reminded of another person's presence while they were working on something. "To the next observation level. Do keep up, old thing."

She grumbled and continued to run. "But why aren't you with Bria? And why must the Doctor stay there?"

"He needs a suit before he can come closer to the machine, Tegan. And you aren't affected by our experiments, old girl. You can come closer, envirosuit or not."

Tegan frowned. She didn't like the sound of the envirosuit. She looked with disdain at the skin-tight yellow suit he wore. "But..."

Luke slid to a stop as he waited for the next door to open in front of them. "I'm not so sure I'm glad that the Doctor allowed for this much curiosity in you." He reached forward, drawing the shirt away from her neck. Tegan reacted quickly, but it was slower than him. "But I can see why he's so protective of you. He likes to eat, doesn't he, pet?"

Tegan jerked back and held the corner of her neckline up to cover the Doctor's puncture bite marks on her throat. She wondered if her mouth felt as open as she thought it was. "That's none of your business, thank you very much."

Luke's dark eyes widened as his thick lips split in a grin. _Cripes_, she thought viciously as she followed him through the doorway. _Cripes, I'm used to those incisors_.

The room into which they walked looked bright and sterile. She blinked her eyes and noticed that Luke was shielding his eyes with a grimace on his face. "Blast, I forgot my tinted glasses." He walked blindly towards a large bank of controls. Tegan frowned when he seemed to be walking unsteadily. With a sigh, she came forward and led him by his hand to the metallic tower in the center of the room.

"Hell's teeth, I forgot that you can't handle light...your eyes must be hurting something tremendous," she chided. Luke slapped his hand harshly on the bank of controls and the lights dimmed slightly, allowing Tegan to open her eyes widely and Luke to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Tremendous was an understatement, pet," Luke muttered. He adjusted the lights so that he could open his eyes widely. He tapped a sequence on the datapad in front of him. Tegan turned, and finding a large window, she walked towards it. As she neared, she saw that they were at least ten or twenty stories lower than she had been with the Doctor. The machine, therefore, was that much larger. On the floor, just a few stories below them at that moment, were several people dressed as Luke and seemingly busy with their own jobs.

"What on Earth goes on here?" Tegan asked, turning slightly from the window to glance at Luke. "What does that thing do?"

There was a large grin on his face that seemed to glow with its own light. "Watch, old girl...you'll see...in about 10 seconds." As he spoke, a warning alarm sounded and filled the space with a shrill yell. Tegan wanted to cover her ears. But then Luke shouted a: "Watch, pet!"

Tegan gasped as the world seemed to explode in a brilliance that reminded her of standing next to the sun. "Oh...wow..." she said quietly, pressing her hands against the glass.

* * *

The Doctor winced, even as the tinted window took the brunt of the bright flash. His eyes seemed pained, as though someone was holding a needle against his eyeballs. He felt Bria's hand against his arm and his muscles flexed involuntarily. "Ah..." he whispered as the flash subsided. "Yes...I do believe that was sunlight."

Bria was smiling as darkness returned to the room in which they stood. "Quite, Doctor," she explained. "That's our business here, so to speak. What you saw was a controlled fusion reaction of a small amount of elemental hydrogen."

The Doctor smiled at her almost uncontained, bridling enthusiasm. "Interesting! How small an amount, Bria?"

"About ten atoms worth. It takes us a week in between to manage the fusion..."

"Yes, of course," he agreed. "And that's also the reason for the size of the Dome. There needs to be an exceptional amount of room for the explosion to expand and subside..." He glanced down at the floor far beneath them. "Good heavens. Were those people out in the worst of it...without..." he frowned. There were quite a few that had on only part of the environsuit. He turned from the window and lifted an eyebrow. "There were quite a few without full environsuits down there, Bria." Even from where they stood, he could see that their features were unnaturally flushed.

"And that's..." Bria sighed. "The start of the final phase. We've been able to initiate and sustain the reaction and can have our eyes partially exposed to the brunt of the light. The final phase..."

The Doctor talked over her, both in awe and in anger. "The final phase is to make see if your skin is able to stand it. Pharmaceutical inducement?"

"Both pharmaceutical and genetic," she agreed. "Luke and I are responsible for the engineering of the fusion reaction and for maintaining the personnel records..."

With a harsh inhale, the Doctor whispered. "Of course..."

* * *

Tegan was still staring out the window when she saw the people below her still milling around. One of the less substantial people stumbled and fell to the ground. She gasped and turned from the window. "One of the workers is down..." she bit out. Her eyes still felt the pressure from the light; she felt momentarily blinded as if she had tried to look into the sun during an eclipse. Her skin tingled. She wondered what the person on the floor would feel like. Without a thought, she twisted to run towards the door they had entered the room by: "We have to help them!"

"What? Wait..."

She ran passed the nearly stunned Luke. He reached out for her as she flew by, only succeeding in grabbing part of her shirt. "Let go!"

The vampire sighed exasperatedly and shook his head. "Really, darling..." he muttered. His fingers tightened on her clothing. "Really. If they've fallen down there..."

"That was sunlight, wasn't it? I can tell by the way that you're wincing. Bloody hell, what are you doing here? Don't you know that sunlight hurts you? It could have killed that man down there, couldn't it?"

Luke grumbled under his breath. "And what do you hope to accomplish down there, pet? Why this Doctor chap felt the need to make sure he added the emotional genetics to you I'll never understand..."

Tegan stamped her foot. "We have to help him."

"Oh very well..." he growled. She was sure his grip would bruise her arm. "Let me get a suit on..."

"Do I need one?" she asked, testily. "I need to find one quickly. Oh, do hurry!"

"No," he said as he dropped her arm and turned to yank open a cupboard. "There's no residual radiation...but the sunlight produced will continue to exist in photon form. It won't affect you..." he said as he shoved his foot in the suit.

With an impatient sigh, she shifted her weight from foot and foot and balanced in front of the door. on..."

* * *

The door slid open, but Tegan didn't wait for it to finish. She ran into the room, ducking to miss the low level. The floor was shiny, like polished stainless steel, she thought. It didn't matter, however, and her boots made virtually no sound as she charged across the area. Others were stumbling and moving about, but above her head, next to the door, a silent red light turned and flashed. It was a warning that Tegan didn't heed.

She headed for the fallen man at full speed, dodging others as they stumbled past her. At the edge of her hearing, she heard Lukan as he ran to keep up with her.

"Get his arms," she yelled as she bent over the man. She struggled under the weight as she slid her hands under feet. "We need to turn him over and carry him...oh...good grief!" With a shaky hand, she covered her mouth. "Hell's teeth, it looks like he has incredibly bad sunburn...like third degree..." With a frown, she fumbled to feel his vitals. "Cripes...I forgot he doesn't have vitals..." she cursed.

"What are you going on about?" Luke yelled over the sound of running feet.

"Is he alive?!"

"Who is this person?!"

Tegan released the feet and harshly turned to face her inquisitor. The visage that faced her in the faceshield of the environsuit was pale and angular_. Now that's a vampire_, she thought. The face didn't change, however, with the thought and he certainly didn't become a bat or anything winged in front of her.

"Why aren't you in a suit and why is it not affecting you?" demanded the person in the suit.

"I'm Tegan..."

Luke gently laid down the shoulders of the man they had been trying to carry. "She's the experiment, Dr. Pedra, that Umbria and I were to bring to the Section Commander..."

"From the polar regions? And she's unaffected?"

Tegan grimaced and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, by the light, yes...but this man is hurt...that's sure as hell affecting me..."

Pedra grimaced. "Bring him to the annex room, Lukan. And make sure that the environmental engineering safeties are in place." He turned to walk away, helping another person in a beat suit to walk. "And bring this...experiment with you..."

* * *

"Good grief..." the Doctor breathed as he watched Tegan having the exchange below. "Who is that, Bria?"

Bria joined him at the window and nodded to the space below. "That is Pedra...he's in charge of the genetic portion of the study...where are you going?"

The Doctor yanked open the door on a cupboard and drug out an old suit. "One size fits all, I gather...ah...well, Bria...I don't much trust the world in general to not alter Tegan or use her for altering let alone dine on her. "He bestowed a large, brilliant smile. "You won't be needing your suit, will you?"

* * *

Tegan stumbled into the room. "Look, he needs medical attention. You're a doctor...Lukan?"

Lukan sighed as he moved her into the room, his hand at her back. "He'll get what help they can give him, Tegan, dear. Pedra wants you in the observation room, though. And if there's one person who is both nice and someone not to cross, it's Pedra, believe me, pet."

The room was dim and looked to Tegan as a dark, flip of a normal bright and sterile laboratory. There were microscopes and work benches covered with all sorts of equipment that she knew very little about. "Lukan," she prodded as he led her through the room, his grip on her arm again strong. "Lukan, why does he want me down here?"

"Not for a gourmet lunch," he joked. "I saw his eyes when he saw you were unaffected by the light. He'll want a full genetic work up on you." With a smile, he gallantly sat her in a chair next to another interior door. "Hold on, Tegan...he'll be right here. I hope you don't mind needles..."

"Oh, just wonderful," she mumbled.

* * *

The Doctor jogged across the floor of the experiment area. His eyes combed the regions under the main reactor for stray personnel feeling the effects of the photon energy. Light as a wave might disappear, he thought, but as a particle it held mass and as such could remain, viable, in the room. He wasn't quite sure the vampire's technology was such that it would maintain integrity in a high photon area.

With a grimace, he looked to the downed personnel. As he ran past one teetering on his knees, the Doctor reached down to lever him off the floor and ushered him towards the interior door he had seen Tegan disappear through.

As he stumbled under the weight of the man he helped, he passed a control panel. He gave a slight smile and reached out to adjust two of the knobs. Immediately there was a whoosh of fresh air overhead. "As I thought," he commented to no one in particular. "There was a release for air in the arena...that should disperse the particles...now...where..."

He twisted around and saw the interior door and set off at a quick pace, lugging the now unconscious vampire with him.

The first door opened to reveal nothing but an empty anteroom of sorts. He stumbled in under the dead weight he held and laid the person down on the floor gently. As the door shut, he pulled off his helmet. A few seconds had the other vampire's helmet off as well. He opened the eyeballs and saw some pupil response and nodded. "You'll do," he muttered. "You'll be pained, but alive...er...of sorts..." He set him down and ran towards the inner door.

* * *

"Now..." Pedra began as he moved through the room towards Tegan. She had watched him give some resemblance of medical care to those people who required it. The care consisted of the man running some sort of a wand over the bodies. In five minutes, he had helped twelve people. Tegan was glad for the people, but when the last of them was helped, it meant that she was taking the full brunt of Pedra's interest.

The white lab coat seemed to fit the man to a tea, she thought. "Now, my dear," he began, "you have a very interesting quality..."

"You mean I didn't fall over from sunburn," Tegan stated. She crossed her arms over her chest. She heard something like a laugh next to her.

"Defiant," Luke supplied as Pedra leaned over to stare at Tegan. With a swallow, she lifted her chin. "She's from the polar regions, as I said, Dr. Pedra. She's the bipedal blood former..."

Tegan's chin was grabbed and she grit her teeth as her head was turned forcibly to the side. "As I can see, Lukan...you're handy work, I presume. How's her blood?"

"Not mine..." Luke grunted. Tegan muttered and tore her chin away from Pedra's grip. "Her creator, a certain Doctor-"

"Doctor who?"

"He hasn't given more than that-"Lukan supplied.

"And he won't," Tegan barked. Luke's hand steadied her back as Pedra peered closer to her.

"But he's tasted your blood, has he? I suppose they've engineered you to taste quite well, but then again..." Pedra began as he backed away. "Then again, engineering from scratch is much easier than adjusting genetics on an existing frame."

"Yes, quite the excellent work, I thought," Luke said. "But then again, I'm just the engineer, aren't I?"

Pedra grinned. Tegan could see the very prominent incisors and wondered, suddenly, if the size of the incisors was directly related to age. The overall look of the man was not scary, and reminded her of her grandfather. After nearly four years of seeing enemies that reminded her of giant metal men, possessed turtles, she expected evil to have the look of evil. These people looked like humans, or Time Lords as the case could have been.

With a sigh, she realized that somehow the incisors had become commonplace. And she wondered exactly what the hell was going on there. First people being bred for food and now vampires trying to stay out in sunlight...what would it be next.

Pedra was turning her head sideways. "Absence of incisors, interesting. Quite great work..."

"Ah, well...thank you."

Tegan started and then let her face dissolve into a small smile. The Doctor's clear baritone filled the space. She was even glad to hear his tone over tone words. It got louder as the Doctor neared. "We did have a bit of a problem with the emotional balance, but one can't have everything can they? Hello, Tegan..." he finished as he drew alongside her and stopped.

"Doctor..."

"Ah, well...good to see you haven't gotten a sunburn," he responded happily. "And you've introduced her, Luke, I do appreciate it. Now, you are Dr. Pedra? Excellent work here on the drug and genetic inducement of photon resistance. So you've found that..." The Doctor leaned forward and slipped his hands into his pockets.

"It's a lack of ability of the skin to form a barrier. Our genetic lack of related body chemicals to react to the incoming photons and form a chemical barrier against the intrusion is the problem. And you are?" Pedra seemed slightly taken aback with the sudden intrusion of the Doctor.

"I'm the Doctor. And you've expressed an interest in Tegan..."

Tegan wrestled her chin back from Pedra. "The wrong sort, Doc..."

"I had thought that," the Doctor muttered. "Tegan's blood does taste quite well, but I wouldn't advise the use of her genetic base for the purpose in which you're thinking."

"So they have completed the bipedal work and ahead of schedule. Interesting," Pedra replied as he backed away from Tegan. "But you must understand that what you've created here will allow us to jump months ahead in our schedule. The help you can supply simply by allowing a bit of her blood.

"The genes are possibly not completely stable."

Luke's hand rested on Tegan's shoulder and held her to the spot. She wasn't too keen on standing next to him and she tried to edge closer to the Doctor. He gave her a small glance. "Don't I get a choice in this?" Tegan whispered.

"I could contact your superior," Pedra offered. "But that would bring in a dreadful downpour of red tape. Ask Lukan here..."

"Pet, you could help us by allowing the good Doctor to take your blood..."

"Like hell," Tegan growled. "And don't call me pet."

"Hmm." With a sigh, the white coated Dr. Pedra hung back. To Tegan's practiced popular culture muddled eyes, he looked like a weird soap-opera vampire. The Doctor sensed something and stepped next to Tegan, his hand enfolding her elbow.

_Oh Lord, what now_, she thought.

_Mind my lead_, she heard sharply in her head in reply.

"I dread to bring in the superiors on this," Dr. Pedra hissed. "When it can be worked out between two men of science. Trust me, either way, Doctor...I will have her blood. I can't allow a chance like this to pass me by.""

The Doctor leaned forward a little. "Then I suppose you must. I am rather protective of my charge."

Pedra sighed heavily and turned to gesture to Luke. "Contact the supervisor, Luke and get additional medical help in here. I shall have to report for this and prepare for the blood samples."

Tegan winced, but the Doctor bestowed a large, brilliant smile on Pedra. "Thank you."

* * *

"That's just great," she continued later as they were led through the main corridors. "Out of the bloody frying pan and leaping into the fire. Again. You do know we're going somewhere where your ruse will be completely removed when they contact that polar place, they'll pull my blood..."

"Which we can't allow them to do," the Doctor pressed. "Under any circumstances."

She released a breath with a grunt. "I do believe this is the most protective you've ever been, Doc..."

"Ah, well...if they were to get your blood, the experiment of photon resistance would definitely work and we can't allow that to happen..." he commented lowly. He was oblivious to her glare as he continued. "No, no...we have to keep your blood away from them. And get away from here."

"But..." Tegan sighed as they went past an observation window. The large reactor was being serviced. She shivered with the thought that it would fire up soon and cause another massive problem to the workers. "People are being hurt here, Doc...they must have it wrong."

"They're near to having it right, Tegan. Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

"So what are WE going to do?" she asked testily.

The Doctor watched as Pedra rocketed ahead of them, leading them back to the administrative wing. Then, with a grin, a single finger held against his lips and a sigh, he grabbed Tegan's hand and moved down a side corridor. When they reached the end of it, the Doctor broke into a jog and veered right down another hall. "We're going back to the main science area. Do keep up, Tegan."

"And how do you plan...to..." Tegan whispered as she ran behind him. "Get out of here..."

"Improvisation."

"I should know better than to ask that now," she commented to no one in particular.


	7. Your bright shining face

The Doctor ran down the hallways peeking and glancing into the doors. Tegan had to rely on his eyes. When he stopped and tried a door, she shook her head. "They use those pass cards" she hissed.

"Hmm, apparently" he muttered. He glanced down the hall. "Ah...keep a look out, could you, Tegan?"

"You know they can smell me" she grit out. "I'm like an advert for finding us out...and I don't think they'll be happy with you. Shouldn't you be working with them? Finding out more about what's going on with this whole scientific thing"

"No," the Doctor grunted as he dug in his pockets. "No, no...there's no practical way to keep them from getting your blood for a long period of time. I don't think there is a place I could stash you for safety...no" he knelt in front of the door. "I do still wish I had my sonic screwdriver."

Tegan crossed her arms over her chest with a huff. "What are you going to do?"

He leaned close to the door, peering at the lock with a frown. He fiddled at the swiper until the cover fell off into his hand. Then he began to pull at the wires inside. After a moment or two, the door slid open silently. "I'm going to open the door," he muttered, tone on tone. "Did you have another plan?"

Tegan stepped into the door, holding it open. The Doctor pushed the wires back inside the box and replaced the cover. He pushed her inside and let the door slide shut. "Ah good, it is tridium lined. They won't be able to smell you here, Tegan." He grunted and opened up the interior panel and yanked out the wires.

"Hey!"

"Yes, well" he said, giving her a smile. "They can't get in and we will have time to do what I need."

She stared at his back in the gloom as he passed her. "And it's our only way out."

"Wellâ€there are always two sides to a coin."

The Doctor stopped at a bank of electronics. "Interesting, Tegan: I do believe their main programming language is a derivative of Gallifreyan."

"Oh, lucky." Tegan's voice sounded very unimpressed. She nervously looked over her shoulder at the door.

"Hmm."

She saw his fingers test at the keyboard and heard a quick response from the screen. Then with a flourish, he sat in the chair and began to type. His fingers literally flew over the keys. There was no time to ask a question; when she shifted her weight, he held up a finger to silence her. With a sigh, she sat.

"Ah, yes" he said moments later. "Four levels of authoritization and a ten position password." He grinned widely. "Just be a moment, Tegan"

"Show off," she muttered in return and got up to walk over to the window. It was a different vantage point from previously and she saw into the interior of the reactor. It was dark, the bright light was only a memory. She shook her head. Below many moved around, but quite a few looked dazed and burned.

_Rabbits, _she thought_. What are they doing to themselves_?

"Trying to change their very essence it seems," the Doctor responded. Tegan jumped. He was scanning the screen as it flashed by, not paying her attention. It was unnerving. "Pedra is doing some very impressive work in genetics here. The pharmaceuticals are combinations of gene therapy and drugs to induce abnormal hormone production. They are, quite simply, coming out of the dark. And the rest of this information is...beyond a doubt...thought provoking." She turned her eyes to the doors at the bottom of the well below her. Behind her she heard him clicking away on the keyboard. A door slid open below and Tegan nearly rocketed back. Pedra and Lukan ran into the large reactor room. "Hell...Doc"

"Yes" he responded. "I know."

Tegan ran back to him. "Then let's go...they'll figure it out quickly, don't you think?"

He continued to quickly pound on the board and then finished with a grunt. As he backed out of the program, Tegan asked: "How are we going to get out of here?"

"Don't lose your head," he advised smartly. Squinting, he rose and stared at the ceiling. With a nod, he pointed to the air duct.

Tegan sighed. "Well...it worked in the Sea Base, didn't it? But where to? We haven't a clue about this base. And you're forgetting..."

"Yes, I know," he sighed. "They can smell you; I can smell you. But when you are in the air dispersal unit, Tegan?"

She gave a slight smile. "The aroma is spread around for everyone."

"Correct."

"But where are we going?"

"Well" he smiled as he drug a chair over and took off the cover. "I think some exploring is in order. Up you get."

"Will you tell me what is going on?"

"Later. First let's find some transportation. We have another port of call."

* * *

Tegan inched along the air duct on her elbows and knees. Occasionally, in her head, she would hear the Doctor make a comment and feel a confirming touch to her ankle to turn right or left. She would do so slowly. But this time, she slowed and stopped of her own volition. There was a large vent and she was able to place where they were. Glancing over the edge, she saw they were positioned over the main reactor.

"Oh...cripes" she whispered.

"What is it?" the Doctor whispered, barely above a breath.

"We're...over" she began and then shook her head. "The reactor...and there's..."

She felt him lever up over her and she pressed her body to the bottom of the airduct. He climbed over her and stretched out to look down at the reactor. "That's it," he said in her ear. "Exploration, Tegan...this is the main air vent. I opened it earlier. We should be not too far from the external vent."

He slowly eased over and off her to crawl along the air duct, leading the way.

She started after him, hoping that he knew where he was going.

After five minutes, he drew to a stop and she saw him slide over the edge. She could feel the cool air of the predawn morning on her face. She knew they had reached where he wanted. The sky threatened morning. Reds and greens warred for dominance in the clouds. And the Doctor was approximately three stories below her coming to a stop at the bottom of the incline.

With a sigh, she swung her legs around and slid down the side of the Dome as he had. Once firm ground was underfoot, she touched his arm. "We don't have long, Doc...morning."

"Agreed."

He turned and she sprinted behind him until, somehow, probably through dumb luck, she thought, they found a transport. There was no speaking as he opened the door and searched the cabin. "This is too easy," she commented quietly as she climbed into the transport after him. The Doctor was busy hot wiring the console. "Why haven't they found us?"

The Doctor gave her a look. "I think they have. I suppose they are either worried about the approaching morning and expecting the light to nullify my threat or they want to see what we are going to do. Or..."

Tegan jumped as the door to their right flew open. She barely saw the people that left the Dome.

"Tegan, the door!"

She leaned into the door mechanism. It closed just shy of the beings reaching the vehicle. The transport rocked on its moorings. "Doc! I think we need to leave. They're here."

The transport fired to life as the Doctor connected two wires. Tegan fell to the side and grabbed a hold of the seat as the transport was rocked by whatever held it in its grip. With a hiss, she leaned forward to balance and swallowed a scream.

_Old...older than anything she could fathom. And pain. Teeth and dark, dark eyes, she felt like she was looking at sheer anger. But she knew_

"Ah, Tegan...don't look," the Doctor advised, loudly. "And hold on."

She stared for a moment longer at the face in her window before the transport completely jumped to life and roared away into the growing morning.

* * *

"Doc?"

Tegan sat in the corner of the transport. Somehow she had found a place to put the vehicle down after several hours of flight. It hadn't been an easy landing; her father's flying lessons in the Cessna of her youth had never included landing an alien transport. But they were in one piece, and she was quite happy with that.

She sat, holding her knees. Sleep had been slow to come and waking had been quick. And it was only evening, not night. The Doctor was still comatose, tucked in the very back of the transport in a now half-open storage space. It was dark enough that she felt it safe to open the door part way and see him. It made her feel better to be able to see another person.

But he still slept.

With a frown, Tegan turned her gaze away from the Doctor. The landscape of the slight canyon in which they rested was the same as the canyon when they had first encountered this world. It reminded her of a the pictures of Skaro she had seen.

Cold, dark, desolateâ€like the look in the eyes of...

_Lukan._

Lukan! That was who had been in the window.

"Rabbits."

She felt a gaze on her and she turned to glance at the storage container. The Doctor's eyes were open and staring at her. Defining the look was hard; there was equal parts confusion, knowledge and hunger. And a part of her wondered, just from the slight change in his eyes, if he were going to change...to become Lukan

...and that face.

She shivered.

"Ah good morning, Tegan," he croaked. The tone on tone was heavier and Tegan wrapped her arms around her knees more tightly. He glanced around and squinted. "The sun has just gone down, hasn't it? My timing is getting better. I must be acclimating to the hormonal change. Thank Rassilon I already had the time sense"

"Bully for you," Tegan whispered. She lifted her chin and gave him a weary glance. "Yes, it has. We should move. You're up, that bloody well means they're up."

"Very true, Tegan," he responded and quickly slid out of the storage container. "Very true."

He sprung to his feet, but teetered slightly. "Doc?" Tegan asked, climbing to her feet.

With a frown, he turned to her. "Tegan...ah...I know it has only been two days... Apparently the need for hemoglobin is unparalleled compared to the need for food. Gallifreyans normally can go for days if not weeks at a time with minimal food"

Although they had had three times where the Doctor had taken what blood he needed from Tegan, this time was different. As he sat behind her, his arm both restraining and holding her, she started when she felt his cool breath touch her throat.

"Tegan," he murmured. "You're quivering."

She opted to shrug, but when she closed her eyes she saw the painful, old gaze and gnarled teeth she had seen through the windscreen. Her eyes popped open and she gasped. "Don't."

"Don't? Don't what, Tegan? Don't feed?" he asked, releasing her. She turned quickly, pivoting on her backside to stare at him. His eyes were dull and wide and his face was pale. The familiar visage she knew as well as her own and could see the pain in his features. And she knew as well as her own mind that he would not feed if she told him not to. He touched at her brow and a shadow of doubt crossed his face.

"Rabbits," she responded. She shook her head. "No, you need it. But do it from in front...I...have to see its you."

"What's the matter, hmm?" He frowned thoughtfully.

"I saw...Lukan and he had changed."

"How. How changed?"

Tegan frowned. "He looked like Stoker's Dracula. He looked like anger and old." She shook her head. "I need to know that you aren't like that. Haven't become that. Look how can that happen what I saw wasn't humanoid it was evil. Hell's teeth, am I going to close my eyes and wake up to have a friend, now monster with the ability to hear my thoughts?"

She wasn't sure that she liked the idea of him in her head and the thought of him becoming evil and causing her to slide with him into the abyss was too much to consider. She would continue as they were; she couldn't not help him, but she didn't want to fathom what could happen to the both of them.

"Listen to me," he said quietly as he bent his head to talk to her. "We've known each other some years, Tegan. I am and will continue to be the Doctor you've known. I won't harm you. I won't become a monster. What you saw are centuries and millennia of genetic aberrations culminating in a show akin to a cosmic temper tantrum. Both Time Lords and Vampires were known for their tempers at one time. Time Lords learned and bred themselves to keep emotions to a minimum. Vampires...did not. They are creatures of emotion and intellect. Old Rassilon would say it was their weakness. But I will not be like them, Tegan, I promise you."

"You'll remain you?"

"Well, yes, barring regeneration," he joked. His eyes changed and his smile faltered as her gaze drifted to his bared incisors in the moonlight. "Do you think you can handle this? I won't-"

"Of course you wouldn't," Tegan assured, her voice harsh. "But you can't bloody well starve, can you? I can handle it."

The Doctor lifted an eyebrow. "Hmm."

She lifted her chin. "Your bark is worse than your bite any day, Doc. Come on get with it. We have to leave here soon. Just"

He bent his head and she felt the touch of his breath on her throat. This time, however, she saw his fine blond hair as it ruffled from her breath. He moved her collar out of the way and quickly she felt him tense and bite. The suddenness of the act made her start and clutch at his shoulder with one hand. But one of his hands found her cheek while the other held her hand. Although the thoughts still raced through her mind, she found herself relaxing and allowing the slight euphoria to sweep her away.

Her aunt was touching her cheek. She was supposed to be waking up for work; she'd overslept. Where was her brain anyway? Still, she could take five minutes to wake. With a swat to the hand, she tried to turn over and bury into the covers. A finger trailed down her cheek to her neck. She felt a teasing and a prickling at her neck where she had been bitten.

Tegan's eyes opened and she glanced to her left. "Ah, you've awaken," the Doctor remarked. She squinted at him. He looked better than he had before. "You looked tired before we... before I..."

"Before you fed," she finished tiredly. He nodded in agreement. "There's no need to pussyfoot around with it."

"Yes, well you did look rather weary. You haven't been sleeping."

Tegan yawned and shook her head. "But you didn't wake me up in my head again."

"No," the Doctor responded. He checked the course heading and adjusted it slightly. With a frown he changed the velocity as well. "No, but I must admit that the level of telepathy between us is a worry."

"You haven't been in my head since"

He gave her a glance with a raised eyebrow. "Late for waking up for work oversleeping just five more minutes, Auntie V.." he said quietly.

"Rabbits!"

"My sentiments exactly, Tegan." He inhaled and nodded.

She grumbled and crossed her arms over her chest. "Hell's teeth, well then take my mind off of that then" She nodded out the window while keeping the frown firmly on her lips. "Where are we going? And what the hell is going on? What are we supposed to be doing here? And when...are"

"When am I changing back to..well...me? When we leave, I will. As I said, the information they had was thought provoking. There are two other research Domes on this planet. Each is working on different projects. The first one is working on a way to reverse the time pocket. The other is working on a new metal alloy."

"So which one are we going to?"

"Ah, the first one; it also serves as the hub, Tegan. There's an area which constitutes what would amount to a Brain Trust of sorts. If they can use moveable food, are able to sustain exposure to light and a useful package to go places in the galaxy will not be safe from them. The most important thing, however...is the engineering of a way to reverse the time pocket. I cannot allow that to happen."

"Can they reverse that time pocket thing?"

"Well, yes...it is possible. Granted, it is easier to be exterior to the pocket. The block transfer-"

Tegan moaned. "Lay terms, Doc, if you please."

She could hear the mild exasperation in his voice as he replied. "Very well. Imagine you are infinitely small. Now...imagine that you have a normal size pocket to turn inside out. Would it be easier to reach in and pull it out or to push it out from inside and keep all the dimensions equal and proper?"

With a shrug, she answered: "On the outside, I suppose."

"Correct." He gave her a glance to the side. "But yes, it is possible to turn a pocket back out from the inside. It takes being exceedingly exact with your equations. If you aren't, it can be the destruction of not only you and your pocket, but the surrounding small area of the Universe as well."

"Small?"

"About twenty or thirty systems," he responded.

Tegan shivered. "How are we going to stop them?"

"Ah...that is the question, Tegan. But I do think I know where we're heading."


	8. And into darkness

"Are you sure we'll make that distance?"

The Doctor slowed and turned to look at her. Tegan joined him at the crest of the next hill, slightly out of breath. She didn't say anything to him about the pace he had set; it was the approaching dawn that they raced. "Hmm? Tegan, I landed the transport that distance away because it is akin to driving a stolen car on your planet. We have to make that distance on foot. To approach in the air would be lunacy. We have a chance on the ground."

"That makes sense, but what do you plan to do? Hell's teeth, Doc...they probably know about us. We can't just turn up on the front step and expect tea, you know."

The Doctor touched her shoulder and nodded to the research Dome. The building was not as impressive as the last one. Large and drab, it sat like a dull robin's egg in the middle of an oasis. Tegan had thought that there was little or no water on the planet, but when they had landed the Doctor had calmly explained otherwise:

"_There's blood, Tegan and that contains a great deal of water. Water has to be in the system somehow. And there's your water...parts of it. And large water masses drive weather along with the rotation of the planet."_

Now as she stared at the mass of water, it appeared to her to be blood itself under the reddening sky of morning. It was catching them. "Doc?"

"Yes, I see it, Tegan."

Together they ran down the incline, launching across the space. The Dome and its outer buildings, which Tegan hoped would hold few people and a place where they could hide, still seemed not to be growing any closer. It had worried her all night, racing the clock. She began to sprint, but it looked like it was miles away. Puffing, she hoped that the Doctor would run ahead and that she would find him later. To hell with the vampires finding them; they had to get him under cover before the sunshine broke the horizon. Let them deal with what would happen after they were under cover.

The Doctor called her name and slowed a little. As she drew even with him, he stopped her, twisted her and suddenly hoisted her over his shoulder. It was only a second of juggling; she didn't have a chance to say yes or no or even complain.

"Brace yourself," he shouted. And then...

_The world flashed by her. She was jarred, but braced herself against his back. Swirling, pounding of blood in her head, bouncing, but the Doctor seemed not to be putting his feet on the ground. Then darkness._

They slid to a stop. And then with no worry for her decorum, he set her down on the ground.

When her head ceased to pound, she barked out: "What was that?"

"Time distortion," he answered concisely. Tegan could see he was casting around for a place to become comatose safely. "Vampires seem to move indecently fast. They are able to use a small contained time sense. As a Time Lord, I had better control."

He stepped through a door and twisted around. "Tegan..." he whispered hoarsely. She grabbed at his arm and felt how weak and boneless he was becoming. Within the darkest corners of the room, she saw a cupboard. She pulled him to it and threw open the lid. Desperately she dug through the interior, feeling a sense of do or die. Equipment and small pieces of materials were thrown aside. Tegan turned him urgently and pushed him toward the cupboard.

"Tegan..."

"I'll take care of myself. Get in there!" She ordered. "Hell's teeth, we don't have time to argue."

Through the window, the rays of the morning light were breaking. He slid down into the cupboard and Tegan gave him one last look as his pale face tightened in pain. With a grunt, she closed the lid and then turned, sliding down the side of it to sit in a heap on the ground. And panting, she contemplated the dawn.

"Hell's teeth," she muttered. "That was close."

* * *

"Tegan..."

The words were soft, almost a breath. They weren't in her head, she decided, but in her ear.

With a shout and a pounding heart, she sat upright. A hand landed at her shoulder; another found her elbow. She couldn't identify the voice and a scream caught in her throat. But a gentle reminder of: "Brave heart", made her calm slightly.

"Ah, you are awake," the Doctor continued. "Good." She saw his hand extend to her; she grabbed it and climbed out of the small area behind the cupboard in which he had slept. With a smile at her attempt at catching her breath, he glanced down at the area. "Good heavens! Were you comfortable there?"

"Comfortable or not," Tegan muttered as she rubbed at her hair. "I wasn't going to sleep out in the open. It was safer there. Your voice doesn't sound like you."

With a sigh, he nodded. "My throat is having a slight chemical reaction due to the blood intake."

"Hmm, I always knew I'd have some sort of affect on you," Tegan remarked as she surveyed the room. "I would have never thought it was my blood that would do it." She shivered. "It still sounds bloody awful to..."

"To feed off of you, yes." He looked wary, standing at the door. She drew even with him to see the building as it stood in the growing night. He was deep in thought. Tegan knew his stance and his facial expression; the incisors didn't change the set of his mouth.

"Doc?"

"Ah..." he glanced at her. "Our hosts are awake, Tegan. I can sense that."

"Just great."

"It shouldn't be much harder than expected here," he commented optimistically. "This is the central command so to speak. The least we have to do is to disrupt if not destroy or alter the course of their research on the reversal of the time pocket."

"Oh, is that all?"

"Yes, well...I admit it might sound daunting."

"Just a tad."

"And complicated."

Tegan sighed as she saw the tightness in his jaw and the way his eyes scanned the building. "We have to do it, Doctor. There's no other choice...if we want to get out of this place. Besides, although Bria isn't that bad, I can't see these people let loose on the unsuspecting universe. You can do it; we can do it."

"Very true..." He responded with a sigh. He gave her a tap on the shoulder. "Thank you."

"So," she pressed. "What's the plan? You have to have one."

"Of course I do," he hedged. "Tegan, how do you feel about being a distraction?"

* * *

Although he had suggested it and she agreed, when she slowly walked through the courtyard door and into the center of the open space, she felt like turning and running. In an effort to stay where she stood, she formed fists, pressing her nails into the palm of her hand harshly. And with an inhale, she lifted her chin and eyed the interior door. Above the expanse of metal was an observation window. She couldn't see within, but knew that she was being watched.

Hell, she knew she'd probably been smelled, but that was the whole idea. She was to draw their attention. And her blood was definitely going to do that.

She couldn't see the Doctor. He had to be near the doors, she thought. The plan that the Doctor had briefed her on had only gone as far as the distraction part. He seemed to know what he was doing. All she had been told to do was stand there until they came to her. Then, as the Doctor had put it as she left him: "Trust me, I won't allow you to come to harm."

The door in front of her slowly slid open, revealing blackness like death behind it. She swallowed hard and breathed a "brave heart" to make herself feel more secure. A fleeting thought roared through her brain to run, but her trust in her friend cemented her feet to the ground. Overhead a dull rumble that reminded her of thunder sounded. It almost surprised her, then, that a rain drop fell on her nose. It seemed too ordinary in an extraordinary situation. And it was her luck too. "Good day?" she asked, quietly.

"Ah, pet." Through the dark and the lost feeling in her stomach and the emptiness of the courtyard, she heard the familiar voice.

Tegan tensed as she recognized the voice. "Oh no. How did you get here?"

"Happy to see me again, dear?" Luke asked. "After all, we did part ways rather quickly, didn't we?"

As his hand closed on her arm, she knew that there had been a hitch to the Doctor's plan. She felt as though she had gone from the frying pan and into the fire.

And wondered if there was any truth to the use of garlic and faith against a vampire.

* * *

By the time Lukan's hand had anchored her to him, she was drenched with rain. She wasn't sorry that the rain blinded her; then she didn't have to see that smug smile of his. An attempt at struggling was cut short as she felt her wrist and elbow pained from lack of circulation. He had a powerful grip. "Let go!"

"Ah, pet..." Luke's voice sounded in her ear. He was very close. Although Tegan wanted to close her eyes, she kept them open. To close them would be to invite that nightmare image she had had of him back to mind. And that she couldn't deal with. "You don't really want me to let you go, here, love. What with all the types around here, you'll be bled dry in a moment."

"Rabbits...you'd do it if I gave you the chance. Don't believe I don't know that," she spat. Tegan brushed her wet hair out of her eyes with her hand and glared at him. Then her eyes moved past him to the door. "Who's your friend?"

"That is the Chancellor of Research," Lukan said quietly. "And amazingly, he doesn't know about your existence."

"Imagine that," Tegan grumbled. She yanked her arm back and this time Lukan let her go.

"Well, dear, that means that either you officially don't exist or that your Doctor is a rogue. Either way, you aren't supposed to BE."

"That's interesting..." she muttered in response as the Chancellor neared them. "How do you explain me being here, then? A dream?"

"No," came the rumbling reply from a strange voice. Tegan looked at the towering Chancellor as he neared. "But there is no paperwork by my reckoning for you...which means, simply, that we are at a philosophical impasse. You are here but you don't exist. And yes, Lukan, you are right...I can smell her blood."

Tegan gave a tight grin. "Philosophical impasse? I've been called nicer things. All I know is that I was created and I do exist. And that research place knows about me, obviously. Else why would the Doctor have made...me?"

The Chancellor grasped her arm as if feeling a side of beef. "Pliable. And I can feel the movement of your blood." He gave a pinch to her. "And the color of your skin is very interesting. Still...exist you do. I think that we need to examine you more closely and generate a report."

"Great." Tegan growled and gave Luke a harsh stare. "Wonderful."

As the Chancellor smiled, showing his jagged teeth, Tegan stared at his eyes. He seemed old. His eyes were fathomless and cold, almost black in the night. She suppressed a shiver and walked slowly, almost dragged into the building. She wasn't going to go easily.

She only hoped the Doctor was getting done what he needed.

* * *

The room into which she was pulled was cavernous. It was the only way she could think to describe it; it really did look like a cave. They had gone downhill and so she assumed that they were in an underground area. There were only bits and pieces of metallic surface showing through the ground. But what surprised Tegan was the amount of hustle and bustle occurring.

"Cripes, they don't look like they've just come out of coma," she breathed.

"Coma?" the Chancellor asked, interested. "I wonder why your creator didn't engineer you with the same time sense."

Sounds echoed slightly, deadened around the side of the room. Tegan looked about slightly desperately, looking for the Doctor, but he was nowhere to be found. She couldn't see anyone dressed differently. As far as she could see, there were people dressed in drab overalls. It seemed too large for a room with little occurring. But as they drew to the center of the dark large hall, she found her steps slowing. The place in which she stood was only an annex compared to the next room.

That had to be the technology about which the Doctor had been talking, she thought as she gazed at it in wonder. The Chancellor ordered her to be taken to the laboratory and walked away, towards the large machine. Tegan watched him go with just a little bit of relief.

Lukan drug her passed the door and towards a set of doors on the side of the cavern. She looked wonderingly for a moment longer at the buzzing, busy hive of workers around what seemed to her a large generator. A small part of her mind wondered whether there was an electric arc like Frankenstein's lab somewhere the size of which would have been bigger than her.

"Come along, pet," Luke muttered. "You don't want to keep the Chancellor waiting. He'd be rather upset if you keep him from other projects."

"Oh, I wouldn't want to be such trouble," she muttered sarcastically. Then she glanced around. "Where's Bria?"

"Bria has had a reaction to the photons; she's ill."

"Burned you mean," Tegan corrected. Her face tightened; Bria had been the only vampire who had been nice to her. "Will she be okay?"

"She'll recover, yes, dear," he responded. A flash of something like pain crossed his face.

"Haven't you known her a long time? Shouldn't you be with her?" Tegan pressed.

With a sigh, he pulled her into the room. To her, it looked like a miniature of the larger lab. "I would still be there if you and the Doctor hadn't run off as you had. Now, pet..." he pushed her down into a chair next to a desk. He leaned into her space, his light eyes filling her entire vision range. His hand moved aside the material at her neck. Then, quickly, he leaned in and nipped at her neck.

Blinded by fury, she kicked out with her legs, trying to connect with his body. It succeeded in only pushing him slightly away from her. "Get off!" He held her by the scruff of her neck.

"Oh, come on, sweet. The Doctor's fed more than once...your blood must have a taste that brings him back again and again," Luke argued. "And the Chancellor would rather like to have the information for his report." Her hair was grasped and he turned her face to the side to be able to get at her neck.

She could feel her pulse in her neck, in her head. Her hands blindly flailed, trying to hit him. He would bleed her dry. He would harm her.

With a shout, she tried to throw him off balance. He was so close; she could feel Lukan's breath on her skin but it was so different from the Doctor's. Although she still struggled, she prepared herself for the bite, leaning away from him as far as she was able. All she could think was about him taking her blood and then being in her mind. Like the Doctor was...

The Doctor might hear her. She shouted in her mind, calling for him, screaming his name.

And as she felt the touch of his teeth on her skin, she closed her eyes.

It was hard to know what happened next; one moment she was restrained. The next moment Luke's teeth disappeared from her skin, just barely scraping her. It was enough to make her skin crawl. She felt air against her face, like a breeze and she opened her eyes...

...to see a flurry of white material, blond hair and Lukan in a pile on the floor away from her. The interior door had slid shut and had remained shut and it cut them off from the rest of the large room. Tegan watched as the Doctor rose to his feet. Lukan had had the air knocked out of him and it allowed the Doctor to back away from the other vampire before the other rose to his feet.

"Doc..."

Tegan scrabbled out of the chair as her friend neared. His hand was behind him and she took the hint and moved off to the side. He didn't talk and his voice was not in her head, either. Uneasy, she went to step in front of him, but he pushed her behind him none too gently.

Lukan climbed to his feet and dusted himself down. His eyes glowed. A show of anger, she thought. "Are you that possessive of your meals, Doctor? You disappoint me. And after all the hospitality we've shown you and your attentive companion here..."

Tegan opened her mouth, but she heard the Doctor hiss and talk, his voice harsh, hoarse and extremely coarse. "She allows my feeding. She's repulsed by the idea of yours." She couldn't hear any of his normal intonation or inflections. "You won't feed on her."

With a shiver, she shook her head violently. "Too right...Doc..."

Lukan started toward them again, his face beginning to contort. The Doctor growled low in his throat, warningly. Far from making her feel protected, Tegan worried. He wasn't the same; he wasn't himself. They had to get out of there. She glanced around for where the Doctor had come. She found a side door which led to a service annex tunnel behind instrumentation.

"Come on, Doc!" she yelled and skittered towards the area and the gaping musky dark on dark behind it. The Doctor sensed where she was going. He turned and rushed Lukan, his growl growing in timber and collided with the other vampire. It gave Tegan the lead she needed and she ran for the area. At the edge of the door, she turned to look behind her. The Doctor was advancing on Lukan and the other vampire

"Doc!"

He turned to glance at her and Tegan saw why the other vampire was intimidated.

_Dark eyes and very pronounced incisors over a mouth twisted and gnarled. The face was old and full of pain, rage. He looked like death, like hatred in humanoid form. She could feel shivers working up and down her spine and felt his restraint. She knew he was in her mind, but he was refraining from saying anything, doing anything. He would rip out a throat, she knew it. There was little to reign him in, she could feel his ire and anger; it literally shimmered in the air around him. _

Lukan glanced at her with fearful eyes. The Doctor glanced back at Lukan and then rocketed toward her. She had enough time to turn around to face towards the wall and the opening. Tegan wondered if he were coming for her or to help her. Then she was moved into the annex tunnel and the door was pulled shut behind him dousing the entire place in dank, stank darkness.

* * *

Harsh breathing. In her ear. As if someone were hissing and breathing through an open mouth and teeth. She was nearly panting and not completely from physical exercise. A large part of her feared what she had seen and the reality of the Doctor becoming a monster.

"Thank bloody hell," she bit out as she tried to act nonchalant but then stilled. The Doctor's hand was on her shoulder and a part of her clung to the thought that he was himself...blond and easy going, but then he spoke.

"Tegan..."

The voice tore at her soul and made her lean forward into him. At the back of her mind, she could feel the begging need and hunger in his voice. It made her shiver. She closed her eyes in an effort to secure a different reality in her mind.

"Why did you....how did you..."

The answer was almost a growl. "Change?"

She nodded.

"Anger." A simple, one word response. "At Lukan..."

There was breath at her cheek, cool and familiar. Then his hand touched at her neck. "Did he..." the words were gruff. "Did he...bite you?" Tegan could hear, at the core, the voice she knew.

"No." It was said easily. In her mind, a sense of relief permeated and a feeling of satisfaction washed behind it leaving her breathing a sigh of relief. Her own heart's nervous beat was slowing as she reacted to his restraint from doing anything to her, from even flooding her mind with his temper.

She breathed in tandem with him, quietly against his harsh counterpart. She could feel his need to remain where they were; he couldn't move yet. "You're not...yourself, are you?" she asked, quietly. Tegan knew the answer. She had known it from when he had turned to see her. "

His negative head movement shook his body. Her hand reached up to touch his cheek and felt the wrinkles. Boldly, she felt at his lips. There was no feeling of rage, no feeling of hunter and hunted. She felt friendship and the inkling of fear that she had been hurt. Under her fingers she felt his skin regaining some of its pliability and his lips thickened. They felt alive and not a twisted parody of his mouth.

"I'm not a monster, Tegan," he croaked. "Temper...anger..." The breath remained on her cheek. The words began to sound more like his normal baritone voice. "I'm hungry...I expended a great deal of energy..."

Her hands continued to touch at his skin until she felt it return to normal. And then his voice: "Tegan?" It had returned to normal: slightly breathy with a tone on tone. And in the dark, she reacted blindly to his hunger and relied on the trust she had in him; she tilted her head to the side and felt his teeth sink into her neck. It was completely dark, but she felt like she was wrapped in a cloak of warmth and friendship as she laid her hands on his shoulders, was pressed back into the wall and he took what blood he needed, nipping and gently sucking at her neck.

* * *

"So what do we do? And what is that thing?"

They stood at the edge of the annex corridor and stared across at the large generator type machinery that inhabited the whole annex. The Doctor was in front of her and had been since he had led her from their sanctuary and into the twilight of the opening. She leaned into the wall behind him, slightly weak. He hadn't asked how she was and was ignoring her. Tegan couldn't even feel him in her mind; he was withholding all contact.

"Hmm?"

Tegan sighed. "That...thing. That large piece of Frankenstein instrumentation over there."

The Doctor turned and looked at her. Immediately he turned forward again. "Ah, well...that is part of the barrage of temporal and spatial transdimensional block transfer generators...they are like your generators...they assist in turning the calculations into physical reality..."

"Hell...teeth..." she breathed. "Math generators..."

"Yes, well...they run like typical generators, Tegan...one simply needs to reverse a few polarities..."

"Throw a spanner in the works, you mean."

"I investigated it before Luke decided to make you a meal," he informed her. "There are two areas that I can interrupt the process, cause a weakness in the system and induce some very interesting pyrotechnics." He nodded. "Exactly, Tegan; we will throw a spanner in the works. Almost literally. I admit that the culture here is quite interesting, but as the Guardian has stated...they cannot be allowed to run hobnob through time and space. We have work to do."


	9. What light on yonder window breaks

With a grunt, Tegan landed against the side of the instrumentation. Her glare at her protector/attacker fell on blind eyes; he was already facing the opposite way. The Doctor's arm extended to hold her back as he checked on the safety of their perch. "You could warn me," she hissed.

"Shush," he muttered.

Tegan peered over his shoulder. They were directly under the first arm of the giant generator. It draped over them like a protective elm branch. The metal arm was as large around as a man; to her darkened vision, it looked like steel. But beyond the arm, she could see little. Workers appeared to be but ants they were that far away and they buzzed around like drones to the queen. She couldn't make out any details.

"They're preparing for a trial of some sort..."

"Everything seems like it's a trial around here," she whispered back. "And Bria..."

"She was affected by the photons..." he muttered. "It was only a matter of time. They don't quite have the process correct. The inability to handle sunlight is inherent and not a dominant gene; it's tied to a great deal else in their genome. By changing that, they are putting pressure on other parts of their genome that should not be changed. Soon, they will render a certain part of their physiology unable to handle the environment in which they exist."

Tegan sighed. "Will it kill them?"

"It will make living as they do exceedingly hard. But, from what I have seen in the computer programs, Tegan, they are engaged in an all or none proposition to regain galactic movement. No wonder the White Guardian wanted intervention; to continue as they were would release them on the Galaxy. They will be at odds with Time Lords who would certainly involve themselves and they would debase themselves from their own cultural center of several millennia. It would cause their empire..."

"You're feeling sorry for them, aren't you?" she asked quietly. "How can you?"

"Yes, well...Tegan, they are an example, a shining one, mind, of an empire flourishing against the natural pressures of their own genome."

With a sigh, she shook her head and woozily leaned into the machine. At her back, she felt the vibration of hidden power. "So what are we going to do? If we just interrupt this, it will be like..."

"Treating the symptoms and not the disease. Yes, I had thought of that. They will simply rebuild. But this particular experiment is getting too close to completion. If, on the other hand, we were to use this instrument to expand and cement the time pocket..."

"Use their technology against them."

"Quite," he responded. His hand cupped her elbow. "Tegan, you look ill."

"You took more blood than usual," she replied, easily and tiredly. "It does that to a person."

Silence met her reply. Then there was a harsh inhale. "Ah...well...I was..."

"Let's get this done before you have that happen again," she said. "Come on, Doc...I want off this planet."

The Doctor nodded and turned to indicate across the floor. He jogged easily across the space, leaving her to run in his wake. For being by something large, Tegan found that she felt closed in and claustrophobic. She entered the small room with a sigh of relief.

With a grunt, the Doctor knelt in front of the main terminal inside and began to remove the cover. She watched the door nervously. "Can't they smell me?"

"No doubt. But they won't be approaching you, Tegan. They'll be trying to address my threat." A low sigh of gratitude escaped his lips as the cover came off.

"Oho...that's humble of you..."

"It has nothing to do with pride," he commented lightly. "I can do more damage than you as I think your friend Luke knows."

"They're afraid of you?"

"Yes, well..." Tegan winced as another piece of the shield quietly crashed to the ground. "Apparently, I'm much older than them..." He gave her a wide smile. "And one thing not to cross is an old vampire."

"So they won't be coming after me?"

A small torch-like object appeared out of his pocket. She squinted in the dark.

"You have tools in there?" she asked.

"After our little run in with the Cybermen," he remarked as he sat cross-legged in front of the console. "I thought it best to keep more tools on hand. And the answer to your question is: I don't think so."

Tegan squatted by him. The Doctor's fingers tangled in the wires and began to put different wires together. When he hopped up, Tegan barely had enough time to get out of his way as he ran across the room to tap out a sequence on the computer terminal. She followed him to stand by his side. "Aha, yes...yes...it will take a bit of time."

"But..."

The Doctor held up a finger and shook it. "Not now, Tegan."

She sighed exasperatedly and moved away from him, towards the observation window. "At least I know that becoming a vampire doesn't change you too much," she commented sarcastically.

"Ah, well..." he commented happily. "Some things are Universal invariants. Can you see the main generator arm? It will look like a large umbrella handle..."

"How could I miss it?" she muttered.

"Good, good...watch the energy flow at the end of it...it should look like an arc. Do you see it? Yes? Tell me when it switches color," he ordered as he leaned heavily on the terminal with one hand and typed with the other. "Especially if it turns purple."

"What does that mean?"

"Imminent destruction."

Tegan frowned. She could see most of the floor from their vantage point. "You do know what you're doing, don't you?"

"Of course, I do," he stated, clearly affronted. Then after a moment, he amended it. "I'm fairly sure I do, Tegan. I shall reverse the energy flow which will expand and cement the time inversion and then feed the energy back through the generator. It should cause a crosslinking of most of the serious bits."

"Is that all?"

"Well, no," he said. He turned around to squat by the main computer terminal again. "It might cause a dangerous overflow of energy which might cause the generator to self-destruct. It's hard to tell with the block transfer computation how far the equation has linked space and time. That backwash will have to go somewhere."

"Oh great." She felt a little safer knowing that the vampires were scared of the Doctor, but wondered if she should have been scared that her friend seemed to be drifting closer to the dangerous line of what she considered was no return.

* * *

It had taken Lukan the better part of twenty minutes to regain his senses. He had only seen another react in the manner the Doctor had and that had been his father. But the changes, the force of the passage of temper on the Doctor's face and inherent in his being left Lukan feeling overwhelmed. He hadn't realized that the other vampire was that old, that powerful.

And, of course, it added to his curiosity about the situation. Why in the name of Pyrthra would one so ancient be messing about with the science and technology panel anyway?

But most of those left his mind as Bria came on the screen. She looked warn and old. His sudden inhale brought a wry smile to her face. "I look like hell, don't I, Luke."

"What has the physician said?" he asked as he deftly avoided the question. "And it would help if you ate your meals with more regularity, Bri."

She nodded slowly. "That's true, I suppose. But I have been eating...they won't let me miss a meal here. The physician says I'll make a recovery...if I'm not exposed to the photons again."

"Soon?"

"Ever."

Lukan rubbed his brow and suppressed a shiver. "Have they figured out what went wrong? Is it the safeties? I could have sworn they were in place."

"Oh, they were," Bria responded. "Although if you ask people here, they'll say it was the lack of engineering controls that caused the exposure to the photons. But I know what was there and what wasn't. We exceeded what was needed. No, there are rumors that it's the genetic recombination technology; that there is an incompatibility. That it will affect us with the wrong set of non-dominant genes..."

He winced. "It doesn't matter how, I suppose, but it does matter what they are doing to help you, darling."

Bria swallowed. "Time. To work out the difference and possibly gene therapy...when are you coming back?"

"Soon, love. The Doctor and that girl...Tegan...are here. The Doctor is apparently an Ancient. Fooled me, he did. I would have had him for a new-born. But he's here and causing as much trouble as he did there old. There's an alert out for him; they think he's planning on sabotaging the main generator..."

"Which is? You know I don't know what's going on there, Luke."

"I'll tell you about it when I get back, darling. Take care of yourself and remember...we're going home heroes."

Bria gave him a sad smile and leaned over to switch off the viewer. He had a feeling that she thought she wasn't going to live to go home.

* * *

"Doc..."

"Hmm?" Tegan could see he was still involved in the working of the generator computer console. She could probably tell him anything and get the same response.

"Doc, we've got company."

"Ah, well...that doesn't surprise me," he commented.

"Yeah, well, they've brought firepower...or something similar."

The Doctor quickly joined her at the window. She gave him a frown. "Might as well finish up; I think they're going to ask us to leave soon. In not a nice way," she clarified.

"Yes, yes...I'll be done quickly. Only a few more changes to the wires and the system should be reversed."

She had been staring at the collection of vampires off to the right along with their growing collection of what looked like gigantic guns to her. The last few words he uttered had her staring at his back as he moved towards the bank of computers. "Should?"

"Yes, Tegan...should. I'm not entirely sure. But if you would like," he turned and gave her a toothy smile. "I could just nicely ask them to stop their experiments..."

With a frown, she turned back to the observation window. "Bloody hell."

The Doctor squatted back down and continued to work at the wires. After what seemed hours, he hopped to his feet and tapped his fingers against his lips. "That should do it. All that remains is employing the block transfer equations...and that I can set up to be done...in twenty minutes."

"What? On a timer?"

He back away from the computer terminal like an artist from a finished canvas and came over to join her. The only thing that marred his usual bright smile was the incisors over his bottom lip. Still, as he slipped his hands into his pockets to glance beyond her to their growing unwary audience he looked as he always had. "Something like that, yes. Shall we, Tegan? We're working on a schedule now. Time is of the essence."

"And what happens to this thing?"

"It will switch on and begin to generate the physical representation of block transfer computations in twenty minutes. So long as it is not tampered with, it will simply do the opposite of what it was meant to do. It will," he continued as he leaned into her space, seeing her confusion. "It will cement this time and space pocket, not expand it or render it open to space. And then, when the computations are finished, the generator will turn itself off."

"And that's it?" Tegan asked as he escorted her to the door. "That's too simple."

"Yes, well...not everything in the Universe is complicated, Tegan. I'm rather glad the TARDIS isn't here; these block transfer computation generators would reek havoc on the poor old girl."

* * *

They exited the engineering corridor and into a flurry of activity.

"Get off!" Tegan yelled as she was pulled from the Doctor's side and forced to her knees across the floor from him. Her short hair was pulled, keeping her barely on her knees, fighting the urge to rise off of them to avoid pain.

The Doctor's eyes glowed as he sank to his knees across from her. She could see his anger boiling through and hoped he wouldn't erupt. She couldn't handle it. But as Lukan drew close to her, she began to think that maybe the Doctor in all his unbridled anger glory was easier to stomach than Luke in her face.

"Don't play with her," the Doctor warned.

Lukan lifted an eyebrow and turned to the Chancellor. The older man nodded knowingly. "He is an Ancient, Luke. Look at his eyes; he appears to be rather protective of his abomination."

"I've been called a lot of things," Tegan growled. "Abomination was not one of them."

"Quiet, Tegan," the Doctor intoned as his voice deepened. She frowned until his glowing eyes turned to her and then she found that she had to look away. After a moment, he cleared his throat. "She's not important, Chancellor."

"Careful, Doctor," the man responded, his voice growing lower with each syllable. "You aren't in a position to say what is and isn't important here. You, in fact, are a rogue and an endangerment to the existence of this project."

"Yes, well..." the Doctor responded, leaning forward on his knees to bring him close to the lead Science advisor. "I do rather feel that the experiments you are doing are the endangerment. Lukan," he turned to address the younger vampire. The growl that escaped his throat had the man releasing Tegan's hair. "Lukan, what about Bria? The gene therapy isn't working particularly well on some factions of the populace, is it? She was affected by the photons, wasn't she? Mainly because the some of her non-dominant genes which control basic body processes are being affected by-"

"That's enough..."

The Doctor ignored the Chancellor, talking louder. His tone on tone baritone became bass as Tegan listened. "Are being affected by exposure to the photons. It wasn't anticipated prior to its use, was it? Time Lords and Vampires use almost 85 percent of their genome in some form or another. And photon resistance isn't something that's-"

"That's enough!" the Chancellor roared. "Time Lord's indeed," he added with a nervous laugh.

"I'm a Time Lord," the Doctor clarified.

"That's impossible, old chap," Luke cried as the rest of the crowd erupted in noise. Tegan used the distraction to slide over to the Doctor. He allowed her to get a little behind him.

"Well, a changed Time Lord, through Guardian intervention. But I know what I'm talking about!" he shouted over the noise. "Look at Bria, Lukan. She's ill. And many more are as well. If you continue from this point there are only two outcomes. One, that you continue and succeed and make this planet uninhabitable and it will no longer house your empire. It will also split your species into two profound species, one with the ability to weather light and the other not. Evolution of that profound nature and so quick is not something a society can survive. Or Two: That you will fail, wiping out Rassilon knows how many millions."

The Chancellor growled. The Doctor issued his own growl, one that made Tegan shiver. "And if you think the White Guardian will allow you access to the Universe, you are sadly mistaken, Chancellor. He is allowing you to continue here, healthy. He wouldn't allow you entrance for your own death. Nor will the Time Lords."

"Doc..." Tegan whispered as she saw the anger and pain in the surrounding people's faces.

"That generator will reach critical power soon and will cement this time pocket, Chancellor."

"You've rewired it!" the Science head shouted. Tegan saw his fangs elongate and contort his mouth. His face became wrinkled in front of her. "Sabotage!"

"And it would rather take you longer than the time I've set on it to sort it out. So I would advise leaving this area...in case I haven't gotten my sums completely right." The Doctor smiled. The smile dimmed as the Chancellor ordered one of the surrounding weapons to train on the main generator arm. "I wouldn't!" he warned.

"I'd rather have to rebuild it than to have the time pocket cemented into place," the Chancellor shouted and then he waved his hand down.

Tegan watched in horror as the arm was hit with an energy beam and saw, to her horror, that the glowing energy arc high above her head turned purple. "Oh hell..." she whispered.

The Doctor reached for her and climbed to his feet. "Only a minute left...if the arm can withstand the influx of power..." he muttered.

For the first time in a long time, Tegan bemoaned the loss of her watch. She gripped the Doctor's arm as they began to back away with the others. Everyone seemed entranced with the arm and the glowing, radiating power. The Doctor had to cover his eyes from the glow.

"Shouldn't we run?" she encouraged.

"They would shoot you where you stand," he warned.

"But!"

"Brave heart, Tegan," he replied as the ground began to shake. "And trust me!"

Tegan gaped at him, but saw the familiar blue eyes of her friend earnest. The rumbling of the ground stopped but the glow increased. And then, with a loud explosion that seemed to dim out everything else she had ever heard in her life, the generator exploded.


	10. Epilogue

"What happened?"

Tegan's voice was gritty and full of the must and ions that hung in the air. The Doctor stood in front of her, his hands hanging dejectedly at his side. As she drew even with him, she saw the crater in the middle of the gigantic floor and the gaping hole in the ceiling. When she concentrated her still shaky sight there, she saw the night sky and its twin moons.

"Good God," she breathed.

"Ah, yes, Tegan...destruction looks rather...dismal doesn't it?" he commented. There was still a growl to his voice. When he turned, his eyes still glowed. "And useless destruction doesn't improve on association either."

She reached out to dust down his back. "But with all that...why weren't we killed?"

"It was an implosion. The exposure of the block transfer generator to a form of kinetic energy, it took it and tried to formulate it into a physical representation, but was actively involved in cementing the time bubble. Therefore, it simply turned it inward and destroyed itself."

"So it only..."

"Had a path of destruction that was very confined."

She glanced about at the other vampires. Most of them were coming to and shaking their heads in shock. "Shouldn't we get out of here, Doc?" she asked, clearly uneasy with their situation.

He gave her a nod and together they turned to jog through the remainder of the destroyed scientific bunker towards what was the entrance, they hoped.

She set foot in the outside air, happy to see it was still night and happy that, as far as she knew, they weren't being followed.

"Yes, Tegan..." the Doctor breathed as his hand enfolded her elbow to keep her moving forward. "Yes, they've been waylaid...er...licking their wounds so to speak. Trust that they will be after us very soon. And I don't think I can handle them all at once."

"I wouldn't have thought that you could. So what are we going to do? I'm all for an intergalactic distress call if there is such a thing."

Tegan felt the Doctor's hand release her elbow and even as she turned to look at him, she saw that he was growing transparent before her eyes. "Doc? Doc...what's going on?"

And then, she too, disappeared.

* * *

They were nowhere, she determined. Somehow they had materialized nowhere, but the Doctor's hand was still on her elbow. But then very light type beach furniture became apparent to her vision. Tegan didn't think it would get any more confusing, but then a little old man in a panama hat joined them.

The Doctor took a deep breath and released it with an explosive sigh. "Ah...I see our work was done?" he said as he turned towards the man with a grimace. "There would be no other reason to pull us from the situation."

"No, there wouldn't be," the White Guardian responded. "And yes it is."

"But," Tegan began. The Doctor glanced at her but didn't make a comment. Clearly, he felt she had a right to continue speaking. "But what about the genetics? What about...well...Bria?"

The White Guardian smiled gently at her. "They won't go far on their genetics. Their own governing body will see the uselessness of inducing the changes without a reason. If they can't leave the planet, there would be no reason to change their genome that much. It is a...natural progression."

"So...we're done?"

"Yes, Tegan," the White Guardian responded. "The Doctor and you have done what I asked. The Doctor was right in thinking that the outcome of the vampires in time and space would wreak havoc of several different types. It would have induced another war between the Time Lords and the vampires who would have left most of the Galaxy in tattered shambles as neither species would involve themselves in keeping everything as it was. And what wasn't destroyed in the wake of their war would have been destroyed by the vampires in eating frenzies..."

The Doctor sighed and nodded, rubbing at his neck. "Ah yes, that's very true, Tegan."

"But Time Lords never involve themselves...like that."

"Not in recent history, no," the Doctor agreed. "But in our past we did."

"And all that about changing their genome?"

"They had reached a crossroads in their technical evolution. To continue as they had would have placed them without a home environment and would have set them looking for a new home...as the Doctor had guessed as well."

"Yes, Tegan," the Doctor added. He gave her a smile which faded as Tegan approached him. Her hand touched at his teeth. He shivered.

"Yeah, but..." she began. Then she turned to the White Guardian. "If we're done and if we did leave in under a month..."

The Doctor felt at his teeth. "Ah, well...yes...that is a good question, Tegan. Why wasn't I changed back into a Time Lord?"

"That will occur in time, Doctor," the White Guardian responded quietly. "Your body is lacking energy; I need to expend some of its natural power inherent in your psychonic frame to revert you, Doctor..."

The Doctor nodded, understanding perfectly the information given to him. "I'm depleted, am I? Interesting."

The White Guardian gave the Doctor a paternal smile. "Yes, you aren't used to the emotional expenditure that your anger has required."

Tegan sighed. "He needs to feed again?"

"Just a little, Tegan," the White Guardian said as he turned to the companion. She stood with her arms crossed over her chest. "It is why I sent you with the Doctor. You helped him by giving of yourself. Something that only a friendship could produce. He will not die if he does not feed; I can change him after some time. But allowing him to feed again now will quicken the transformation. It is your choice."

The Doctor nodded. "I am not hungry, Tegan. It would be only for..."

She frowned. "Given a choice between having the redecorated you or the old comfortable you soon isn't really a choice at all, you know."

"Ah, well..."

She shook her head and lowered her eyes. "That's a way of saying yes, Doc."

* * *

The TARDIS hadn't changed, she decided. But she certainly had. Tegan stood in the console room, fingering the collar on her neck and the bite marks underneath. And she didn't want to know how they had just suddenly appeared in the console room just minutes previously.

As suddenly as they had appeared in that white oasis, they had left it. The Doctor had sat with her in front of him, gently and quietly sipping at her neck. This time it had sent shivers and quivers up and down her spine. He took little blood; in fact he had only taken what was needed as the White Guardian had waved his hand.

They had reappeared on the floor of the console room, Tegan sitting in between his legs and his right arm across her chest. She had worried that he hadn't changed, but simply a glance behind her to see his smiling face let her know that he was back to normal.

But then his arm had left her as if he were burned and he had retreated down the corridors. The last thing he had said was that he needed to change his clothes.

"That's better!"

His voice brought her back to her self and the present with a blink. The Doctor was adjusting his coat and stood contemplating her from the doorway.

"Yeah..." she commented. "How long until these leave my neck?" she asked, pulling the collar away to reveal his bite. "At least the White Guardian could have changed that too..."

The Doctor walked across to her to look at the bites. "Hmm, well...I'm sure it will heal quickly, Tegan. I did make sure I exuded enzymes to help with the healing."

Tegan sighed and shrugged. She felt weird having something physical from the Doctor left on her body.

He guessed at her mental state and moved toward the console. "Yes, Tegan...it will heal quickly. And I do believe that the Guardian has seen fit to put us where we were, on trajectory with a nice quiet vacation. Just a short jaunt and then...we'll go get Turlough." He glanced over at her as he adjusted a knob on the console. "And about those bites, Tegan..." he tried for nonchalant. "Thank you. Without that I would have ceased to be or gone mad. It was more than the blood; it was the familiarity."

Tegan opened her mouth to issue a sarcastic comment, but a glance at his face and the earnest look on it stopped her. She simply said: "You're welcome." Then the impish part of her reacted. "I always said you'd be lost without me."

"That may be a possibility," he responded lightly. He flicked a knob and the TARDIS began its movement through the cosmos.


End file.
